Dive Brief:

• Smartphone use among teens (13-17) is nearly ubiquitous, with 95% saying they have access to one, while 45% are online "almost constantly," according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. In similar research Pew conducted in 2014 to 2015, that near-constant internet usage was only 25%.
• An additional 44% of teens said they go online several times a day, meaning almost 90% of teens go online at least multiple times a day, Pew noted. This use of the internet differs by gender, race and ethnicity, with more girls using the internet constantly than boys and more Hispanic teenagers using the internet constantly than white teenagers.
• Teens' use of social media is also evolving rapidly, per the report. Over half (51%) of teens said that they use Facebook, but it comes in fourth to YouTube with 85%, Instagram with 72% and Snapchat with 69%. Twitter trails behind the rest with 32%. Asked which platform they use most often, Snapchat leads with 35%, followed by YouTube (32%), Instagram (15%), Facebook (10%) and Twitter (3%).

Dive Insight:

Teenagers have always been the ultimate moving target for marketers. It's no different today than with earlier generations, except now they're more mobile than ever, with near universal use of smartphones, and a reliance on the internet that is only growing, according to Pew Research Center.

Even the social platforms that teens are using are changing, with Facebook losing traction and teens moving on to the next channel, even if the next one is Google's YouTube, which has been around as long as Facebook. The survey also seems to bear out Facebook's growing reputation as a platform geared toward older generations, which does not bode well for the future of the giant social network and the marketers who have learned to rely on it.

This survey comes along at a time when technology companies have started reconsidering "smartphone addiction," a report by Business Insider pointed out. Google said in May that it has a "Digital Wellbeing" initiative to help people cut back on their use of the phones, and Apple is working on a similar program, named "Digital Health."

While technology companies may be feeling pangs of conscience, merchants and marketers likely have survival on their minds. Social media, after all, is a growing purchasing channel with younger demographics. One report last year from Yes Lifecycle Marketing found that 80% of purchases made by Generation Z — made up of mostly children and teens — are influenced by social media. They are also twice as influenced by social media as by deals, a report by IRI said.

That being said, while 50% of consumers now shop using mobile devices, only 20% complete the transactions on their phones, suggesting that mobile and social commerce could have a ways to go before they become ubiquitous. Other reports have found that this could change by 2021, though, when mobile is predicted to account for 45% of all e-commerce sales, up from 28% currently. By 2021, many of those Gen Z teens will be in their 20s and have their own money to spend.

Retailers are rapidly deploying mobile strategies and programs, in large part due to younger customers' preference for smartphones. Over 71% shop with their smartphones at home, while traveling and during spare time, and over 60% use smartphones in physical stores, according to iVend. That's caused retailers like Walmart to launch new mobile apps with features like Store Assistant for in-store shopping, as well as Target, which has equipped its mobile app with beacon and Bluetooth technology to guide customers through stores and to promotional displays, as well as a mobile wallet capability.