It seems like summer just started—families are still planning their vacations and people are only beginning to recover from their 4th of July sunburn. But even though we have many long summer nights ahead of us, shoppers across the country are already planning their household’s back to school purchases.
Off to an early start this year, TrendSource Trusted Insight surveyed nearly 1,700 Field Agents from across the country to glean insights into their buying intentions, purchasing power, preferences, and habits. Though school won’t start for another couple of months, retailers are already bracing for the back to school rush because, as our survey results indicate, their shoppers are already preparing.
Shopping on a Limited Budget
The study’s aggregate shopper is a parent responsible for 2-3 individuals returning to school, and 58% of them have an overall budget of less than $500. Shopping for them is a family affair, but the parent controls the purse strings: an overwhelming majority (97%) said they plan to bring their child shopping but will make the final decisions, with only 2% reporting they give their child an allowance and entrust the shopping to them.
Pens and Paper: School Supplies
It should come as no surprise that school supplies were by far the most popular item on our shoppers’ list, with 94% of respondents indicating they will be common classroom items. Though times and technologies change, these items remain indispensable and nearly universally sought according to our data, and respondents planned to spend between $101.56 and $277.13 on them.
Yet shoppers do not intend to merely throw a little of this and a little of that in their cart—75% indicated that local stores provide them with a list of required school supplies, and 63% of those respondents indicated they would purchase everything listed.
Pants and Pleats: Fashion/Apparel
In addition to new school supplies, many students will also be starting the school year with some new styles as 79% of respondents indicated they would also be purchasing fashion/apparel items. Based on the family’s overall budget, their clothing budget varied greatly: shoppers who planned to spend $500 or less in their back to school shopping budgeted $170 for fashion/apparel while those who budgeted over $500 planned to spend a whopping $525. And most shoppers will be choosing their own styles as only 17% of respondents will be shopping for mandatory school uniforms.
Printers and iPads: Electronics/Technology
While most shoppers will be on the lookout for school supplies and fashion/apparel, less than half will be shopping for electronics/technology. However, 41% of those who intend to buy electronics will do so because their child’s school requires students to have a laptop or tablet. Schools only provided the required technology in 22% these of cases, leaving 88% of our respondents to purchase the required materials for themselves.
But while a smaller share of respondents will be shopping for electronics, they will be better represented in the online market. Respondents were 11% more likely to purchase electronics online than fashion/apparel, and 32% more than school supplies. They were also at least 14% more likely to seek out information online than school supply and fashion/apparel shoppers. Overall, in-store shopping proved the preferred choice among respondents but online shopping increased drastically when purchasing electronics.
What Else is in the Study?
How do customers seek out and compare discounted price points, and what is their most likely path to purchase within the categories we identified? What grade(s) were shoppers most likely to be shopping for? How do extra-curricular activities further impact a family’s budget, and how does the size of the family influence how back-to-school budgets are allocated? Study results offer insights to these questions and an array of others within the complete report.