68% teens shop online in cities, 91% in mini-metros own mobiles

Mumbai: Almost seven out of 10 urban teenagers shop online and teenagers in mini-metros are ahead of their metro counterparts in adopting digital lifestyles, found a survey. The survey, which aimed to study the digital preferences of high school students, also found over 48% respondents had bought clothes and accessories online.
The TCS Gen-Y 2013-14 survey covered 18,196 students aged between 12-18 years across 14 cities in the country. Over 68% respondents said they shop online, compared to 37% last year. "While the number of teenagers who shop online has definitely increased, the difference in what they are shopping is stark. Last year, they were shopping for low value things like movie tickets and books, but this year clothes and accessories have taken the lead," the survey said.
While over 82% teenagers own a mobile phone in the metros, the numbers are higher in mini-metros at 91%. Similarly, teenagers from mini-metros also lead in the use of social media for school projects, with over 66% agreeing it helps them perform better in studies compared to 60% in metros. "Students have started using the internet for self learning and projects. Classrooms are taking that ahead and holding discussions," said Ajoy Mukherjee, the company's executive vice-president and global head of human resources.
Mobile phones and tablets were the most popular gadgets with teenagers, while Facebook continued to remain their most preferred social network. Over 85.8% of respondents were registered on it and more than 21% posted on the site everyday.
However, micro-blogging site twitter was not too popular with the teenagers. Over 31% respondents said they had a twitter account, only 2.7% said it was their most preferred social network. "The low popularity may be because the teenagers find it more complex," the survey said. Over 87% think social media has made them aware of current affairs.
The survey, which also looked at the career preferences of teens, found IT and engineering were their top two choices but observed a growing interest in media and entertainment compared to last year. Almost 10% respondents picked media or entertainment as their top three preferred choices.