Shop Talk
Retailers, consumers and prices
Check Out Line: Summer job search advice for teens
Check out tough times for job-seeking teens.
Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said teens looking for a summer job will need to dedicate themselves full-time to the search, meaning getting a full-time job will be a full-time job. While many employers have filled summer positions, some may need more than expected while others delayed hiring until summer business conditions became clearer, Challenger CEO John Challenger said.
“The point is, you never know if or when a job opening is going to materialize, so you want to keep pushing,” he said in a statement.
Earlier this spring, the Challenger firm predicted an improved summer hiring outlook for teens compared with last year, when employment among 16- to 19-year-olds grew by less than 1.2 million jobs from May through July.
“It is unlikely that summer employment gains among teens will reach pre-recession levels, but we should definitely see increased hiring compared to 2008 and 2009, which experienced the weakest summer teen job growth since the 1950s,” Challenger said.
The Challenger firm said federal data showed that summer employment among teens last year grew by 1.16 million, slightly better than the 1.15 million added in 2008 between May and July, the fewest since 1954. In 1999, at the height of the dot.com job boom, summer employment for teens grew by almost 2.02 million.
Making matters worse for teens, they are competing with recent college graduates and job seekers who have two or more years of on-the-job experience and are willing to take almost any job to get a steady paycheck, Challenger said.
Check Out Line: The battle for lower prices
Check Out the competition in the mall.
As retailers tried to attract consumers for some post-Labor Day shopping, apparel retailers Aeropostale and Charlotte Russe beat Gap Inc’s Old Navy chain in the pricing war this month, according to Eric Beder, associate director of research for Brean Murray Carret & Co.
While Aeropostale has “never looked better” with its combination of good merchandise and prices, Arden B owner Wet Seal remains the “low price leader,” Beder said.
Consumers have continued to seek lower prices for items like clothes and some surveys have predicted that although they might be willing to open up their wallets a little, they will still favor discounts as they draw up shopping lists ahead of the holiday season.
Another teen retailer Abercrombie, which usually has higher prices, may be realizing that consumers are likely staying cautious spenders and is offering more promotions, Beder said in the research note.
And while Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters were using “strong fashions” to their advantage, Swedish apparel retailer H&M remains a top chain with low prices for fast fashion clothing and accessories, according to Beder.
Also in the basket:
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“Don’t look at me, I’m just a kid — bill my parents!”
Ah, youth. How free and easy it all seems. Especially after the launch of a new payments system, BillMyParents.
The system geared to teens and tweens — who ideally have good relationships with their hopefully indulgent parents — allows parents to approve purchases coveted by their kids and foot the bill.
The idea of the youth payment system is to capture some of the $40 billion spent by kids who end up shopping at traditional retailers only because without a credit card, they have no way to pay for stuff online, says the company’s chief executive, Jim Collas. Collas is the former chief technology officer for PC maker Gateway.
Whereas consumers have a host of options in online payments systems, including eBay‘s PayPal, Google Checkout and Checkout with Amazon, Collas says his system is the most convenient for parents and teens. Parents pay 50 cents per total transaction after they approve and pay for their kids’ shopping lists that are automatically sent to them via email or text, and merchants pay a percentage to BillMyParents. Currently, BillMyParents is powered by Amazon.com with Amazon’s shopping cart integrated into the website. Kids can access the entire inventory of the global online retailer.
BillMyParents, which is owned by Socialwise Inc, plans to have up to a dozen more retailers participating within nine months and the ultimate goal is for the BillMyParents payment button to be integrated into the online retailers’ websites.
Besides the retail angle, Collas sees a huge opportunity in the gaming world, which allows kids to buy virtual goods online — a market estimated at over $1 billion — as they play their favorite video games. Through partnerships with online gaming sites like Artix Entertainment and social networks, young users will be able to share information, showing off what they’ve ordered and seeing what their friends’ nice parents just bought them. An opt-out is available. Collas’ goal, he said, is to become “the de facto standard” for youth payment systems. He added: “We do expect to gain momentum very quickly.”
(Photo: BillMyParents)
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Check Out Line: Teens spending less, but super-rich still shopping
Check Out the sinking economy creeping into the lives of some of the most resilient shoppers — teenagers, whose need for fashion and fun often trandscends economic downturns.
Rising prices are forcing teens to cut back spending as their parents face mounting gas and food costs, declining home values and a credit crunch, according to a WSL Strategic Retail survey.
“Clearly we have reached the final frontier of cost cutting. It doesn’t bode well for holiday 2008 when teens, the most demanding of our shopping citizens, are cutting back,” said WSL’s Chief Executive Wendy Liebmann.
Like their parents, teens are paring spending, with 35 percent buying less expensive clothing brands; 28 percent buying less expensive hair care and shaving products; 20 percent cutting back on salon manicures and haircuts; and 19 percent signing up for fewer sports and lessons, according to the survey.
Only one in 10 teens said they had more to spend for back-to-school 2008. That’s down sharply from 2007, when 40 percent said they had bigger shopping budgets.
Contrast that with the attitude of the super-wealthy, who remain confident shoppers. An Elite Traveler consumer spending survey found that families worth more than $30 million planned to spend the same or more as 2007. Also in the basket:
U.S. clothing chains falter as shoppers clamp down (Reuters)
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