Earlier this week, while scrolling through my Facebook feed, I came across the first round of back-to-school photos. My first thought: “Wait, isn’t it too early for this?” My second thought: “I haven’t finished the back-to-school shopping blog for work yet!”
While I’m a bit behind schedule, retailers (online and brick-and-mortar) have been thinking about back-to-school shopping for some time now – unsurprising since, according to a study by CivicScience, 31% of American parents started school shopping before August 1 and 57% plan to start shopping before September 1.
So we know when families are shopping, but how much do they plan to spend and where are they making their purchases?
Shopping for supplies
According to the NRF’s annual survey*, planned spend for families with children in elementary through high school is expected to average $696.70, up from last year’s $684.79 and 2012’s record of $688.62. This is expected to total around $26.2 billion, which is less than last year’s 27.5 billion, something the NRF reports is expected as fewer families surveyed said they have children in grades K-12. The NRF’s survey also looked at how much children are spending on back-to-school shopping. Pre-teens are expected to average around $26 with teens closer to $37.
“Consumers are in a strong position given the nation’s growing economy, and we see this reflected in what they say they will spend on back-to-class items this year,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in a press release. “We’re expecting record spending and retailers are ready to provide students with all the items they need for a successful school year.”
K-12 families plan to do most of their shopping at:
- department stores (53%),
- discount stores (50%),
- online (49%),
- clothing stores (45%) and
- office supply stores (31%).”
Free shipping continues to be a key influencer. The NRF reported that 90% of K-12 and 85% of college shoppers plan to take advantage of free shipping for online purchases. Amazon account holders with Prime memberships are twice as likely as non-Prime members to do at least half of their school shopping online this year, according to CivicScience’s study.
*The NRF’s annual Back to School/College Spending Survey was conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. The survey of 7,660 consumers ran from July 1 to July 8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.