Nike and Apple, the #1 brands among teenagers: how AI can help predict the future

Core inflation remains high in advanced economies, with economists calling for tighter monetary policies to improve price and financial stability for sustainable economic growth. As inflation progresses only slowly toward sustainable targets, investors can leverage insights into teens’ spending habits, behaviors and technological advancements to identify broader economic and market trends.

In a recent Piper Sandler checks in with teens According to a survey analyzing discretionary spending patterns, fashion trends, technology, and brand and media preferences, inflation was determined to be the second-largest social concern among teens, pointing to early signs of a slowdown in their spending.

“Inflation has reached its highest level in terms of political and social issues, second only to the environment,” said Edward Yrumasenior research analyst.

Despite this result, the survey results reveal that teen discretionary spending, particularly in the fashion and technology categories, is strong, despite general optimism among U.S. consumers in the third quarter of 2023. abandoned slightly compared to the first half.

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Key findings from the survey revealed that Nike remains the #1 brand for all teens in both clothing and footwear, with 35% and 61% mindshare respectively, while the iPhone continues to dominate as their favorite tech product, with 87% of teens owning one. The results also showed that 88% of teens expect the iPhone to be their next mobile device, while 34% of teens own an Apple Watch.

While women’s spending overall declined 7% year-on-year, with spending falling on clothing (-9% year-on-year) and shoes (-5% year-on-year), men led the increased spending as Nike, Inc., Lululemon Athletica Inc., and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. rank among the top teen clothing brands.

What’s even more interesting is how artificial intelligence can be leveraged to predict the future of fashion and technology trends among teenagers, to better understand broader economic changes as supply chains are starting to normalize.

AI predicts the future of fashion and technology

Interested in what the future of the fashion industry could look like, experts from DAY, the world’s largest wholesale and data exchange platform for the fashion, luxury and home categories, analyzed the data and used AI image generation to visualize predictions keys. They asked Chat GPT to predict future fashion based on how fashion changes over time, and combined that data with research data and projected industry growth data to gain insights into key trends.

“Innovations occur regularly in the fashion industry, whether in trends or processes, but the current pace of technological advancement has the potential to create step change when fully developed and integrated. Ultimately, this will improve processes from an industry perspective, while also benefiting the consumer,” commented a JOOR spokesperson.

Nike

Nike Inc.’s revenue increased 2% to $12.9 billion in the first quarter of 2024 from a year earlier, driven by higher revenues in EMEA and Greater China contributing respectively up to 2 and 1 percentage points to the retailer.

Since launching new product innovations in the running industry, Nike CEO John Donahoe has expressed the need to create more meaningful connections between consumers and everyday runners and, as a result, expand these innovations more effectively on the market. With its premier market, Nike executives are looking to leverage its unmatched scale and reach to offer more compelling assortments with a focus on serving its female consumers.

Apple

Apple Inc., on the other hand, reported a 4% decline in Product revenue last quarter to $60.6 billion, citing headwinds and an uneven macroeconomic environment as a major contributor. to the slight loss of income. On the contrary, wearables, home and accessories revenue was $8.3 billion, up 2% year-over-year, with strong performances in several emerging markets as the Apple Watch continues to expand its reach with approximately two-thirds of customers purchasing an Apple Watch last quarter. , being new to the product, according to Luca Maestri, CFO and SVP at Apple.

“One trend we will likely see progress in the future is wearable technology in sportswear and even everyday clothing,” according to JOOR experts.

Estimated to reach a market value of 4.4 billion by 2027 (up 1,530% from 2018), the wearables industry is poised to evolve from its current wrist monitor form to something more subtle. Beyond tracking data just to monitor health, future wearable fashion could also incorporate technology that monitors environmental stressors such as heat waves and could potentially implement a cooling system.

AI Data Aggregation Using TikTok

Piper Sandler’s survey also showed that TikTok improved slightly as teens’ favorite social platform with 38% share, while SnapChat was No. 2 with 28% share, followed by Instagram (23%). ). Social media consumption can also be used to understand how adolescent consumption behavior influences Gen Z and even millennial demographics, thereby changing broader economic trends.

Using TikTok as a priority channel for Gen Z to authentically connect with this demographic, Nike saw a 172% increase in audience engagement on the social platform.

“We have also [bring] our culture of innovation comes to life through our storytelling, as we dominate the conversation with the greatest share of social voice. In particular, we have been incredibly effective at reaching Gen Z women through our lens of sport, style and culture,” said Donahoe.

Additionally, Apple’s installed base reached an all-time high across all geographic segments last quarter. As a result, the tech giant is seeing very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, thanks to last quarter’s record for iPhone Switches and high rates of new users on Mac, iPad and Watch.

With this in mind, JOOR sought to visualize the future of fashion using AI image generation, leveraging TikTok, Google Search and projected industry growth data, to Track how interest in key areas has changed over the past 5 years, while gaining insight into which ones have grown the most. They also looked at emerging fashion trends on TikTok over the past year, based on hashtag views, to establish what has influenced today’s fashion elements and what could influence the fashion of tomorrow. Then, using a combination of the above information, they developed prompts to generate AI images using the Midjourney platform to produce the following images:

Covid fashion: younger generations are romanticizing the comfort and anonymity of Covid-19 clothing.

Quiet Luxury x Clean Girl: Combination of two viral trends of the 2020s.

Barbiecore x Fairycore: Nostalgia for the “Barbiecore period” which was fashionable thanks to the film.

TikTok data shows that some of the most popular fashion trends in 2023 are Y2K with 23.1 billion views and “90s aesthetic” with 3.2 billion views, according to JOOR experts.

“Nostalgia in fashion typically occurs over a 20-year cycle, and with the rise of social media platforms, it has become easier than ever to look to trends from earlier periods as a reference and draw from metaphorical archives . In 20 years, it might look like younger generations are taking inspiration from typical 2020s fashion, whether it’s the “clean girl” aesthetic or a more “barbiecore” and ” “fairytale”, or even a look that more reflects the loungewear and masks popularized by the pandemic,” said a JOOR spokesperson.

Retail is moving towards the circular economy and sustainability

Piper Sandler’s survey also found that teens’ shopping channel preferences have shifted toward low-cost, online-only retailers, away from specialty, discount and outlets since the fall 2022.

However, the fashion circular economy is expected to grow 96% by 2026, from its valuation in 2022 to $120 billion. Although some brands already offer the option of having clothing repaired in-store, or returned and recycled, this is expected to evolve as advanced technology develops.

JOOR sees the circular economy in fashion as having the potential to become much more mainstream, using AI to visualize an in-store returns process in which the garment is recycled, redesigned according to new trends and/or reprinted.

Another prediction from JOOR experts is that AI will create a more personalized shopping experience for consumers, allowing retailers to reduce the need to stock physical items. This would allow the consumer to select the material, style and color in online software and then 3D print them to their own dimensions.

Likewise, sustainability in fashion and technology is expected to take over in the decades to come, with a vast majority of clothing made from sustainable materials like mushroom-based leather.

“Environmental impact can be reduced by changing the materials we use in clothing as well as addressing processes. One way to do this is for consumers to “produce” their own clothes by leveraging existing brand styles through AI programs, then 3D printing them in-store to meet their sizing requirements . These fit snugly to consumers, minimizing the need for returns, and when the consumer no longer likes the item or changes size, they can return the item to the store for a fee, then reprint it to generate a new clothing.