ICSC Survey: Children Steer $466 in Monthly Shopping-Center Spend

What ICSC's Family-Focused Retail Survey Found

A new survey from the retail real-estate association ICSC shows that American parents now treat shopping centers as family destinations rather than purely transactional stops. Among 1,004 US adults with children aged three to 16, 68% said fun and enjoyment and 66% said spending time together are top priorities when evaluating retail and experiences — ranking ahead of price and affordability at 60%.

The findings suggest location decisions are shaped by children. 95% of parents report that their children request specific stores, restaurants or experiences, and nearly half describe deciding where to go as a shared decision. The survey, conducted June 9-14, 2026, found that almost three in five parents visit shopping centers or retail districts with their children at least once a week, and 81% of those visits are for discretionary purposes such as dining, entertainment or children's activities.

Those family visits carry measurable spending power. Parents in the weekly-visit group report spending an average of $466 per month at shopping centers or retail districts. ICSC president and CEO Tom McGee said the data shows family-friendly experiences are "an important factor in where families choose to spend their time and money" — and that children increasingly influence those decisions.

Why Child-Led Choices Are Reshaping Shopping-Center Visits

The child is now a co-decision-maker in household retail spending

The most consequential figure is not the $466 monthly spend but the 95% of children who request specific destinations. Because nearly half of parents say the final choice is shared, retail decisions that were once parent-led now involve a child's preferences from the start. That makes a shopping trip less like an errand and more like a negotiated family outing.

Experience is competing with price as the first filter

Fun and enjoyment (68%) and time together (66%) outranked affordability (60%). This does not mean price is unimportant — 60% is still a majority — but it suggests venue selection is being made partly on the quality of the visit before the cost of individual purchases is considered. For shopping centers, that shifts the competitive battleground from who has the lowest prices to who offers the most reliable reason to stay.

The $466 monthly basket is recurring discretionary traffic

ICSC reports that 81% of weekly family visits are discretionary, not task-driven. If shopping centers can keep those visits frequent, they capture a recurring pool of dining, entertainment and children's activity spending rather than relying only on necessity-based trips. The risk is that this pool is mobile: 41% of parents have traveled to a specific destination because of a child's preference, and 26% have changed where they shop regularly.

Viral trends create impulse demand — and churn

Half of surveyed parents said they had bought products they would not normally consider to keep up with a child's latest obsession or viral trend, and 54% spent more than planned because of child influence. That is a concrete sales opportunity for retailers who can respond quickly, but also a warning: a venue or retailer that repeatedly lacks what children request can lose the entire family visit, not just a single sale.

How Retailers and Centers Can Convert Family Visits Into Loyalty

For shopping-center operators and retailers, the survey points to specific levers rather than broad guest-experience goals.

• Program recurring family events. 79% of parents said regular family-oriented events or activities would make a visit more likely, so scheduling them at predictable times can turn occasional trips into habitual weekly traffic.
• Design tenant mixes around child-requested destinations. Because 95% of children request specific stores or restaurants, centers should evaluate whether their food, entertainment and kid-focused tenants give children a reason to ask for the venue by name.
• Build a fast merchandising response for viral child trends. Half of parents reported buying items they would not normally consider to keep up with a child's latest obsession. Retailers that can identify and stock such items quickly can capture unplanned basket growth.
• Bundle dining, entertainment and children's activities. The $466 average monthly spend reported by weekly family visitors is heavily discretionary; cross-promotions that extend the visit across multiple tenants can lift center-wide spend rather than single-store sales.
• Protect child-pull tenants and experiences. 26% of parents changed where they shop regularly and 41% traveled to a specific destination based on child preferences. Losing a popular child-focused tenant or experience can move the whole household's regular visit elsewhere.