With the start of school approaching, families are preparing with back-to-school (B2S) shopping. Deloitte estimates that families will spend $27.8 billion in purchasing necessary school items in the US. Here are some shopping trends of back-to-school shoppers and the importance of a stock-up strategy for merchants.
Back-to-School Shopping Trends
Based on research done by Deloitte, B2S shopping accounts for more than 50% of annual school-related purchases in the US. This concludes that parents buy more than half of their child’s necessary school supplies prior to the beginning of the school year. In addition, the same research finds that the average back-to-school spend per student is $519. Furthermore, it is expected that most families will go back-to-school shopping in the last 2 weeks of July and the first 2 weeks of August. In addition, more than 29% of all B2S shopping will be done online.
Estimated Market Spend
During back-to-school shopping parents not only buy their children school supplies such as notebooks, binders, pens, pencils, etc. In fact, school supplies only account for $6.1 billion of the $27.8 billion estimated market size. Clothing and accessories are the biggest category which families will spend on at approximately $15 billion. Other things that will be purchased during back-to-school shopping are computers, hardware and other electronic gadgets.
Source: Consulting.us
What’s Important to Back-to-School Shoppers?
The top three aspects which back-to-school shoppers care about the most are price, product and convenience. By far, price is the most important consideration of choosing where to go B2S shopping. Families are highly interested in deals, discounts, coupons and bundle items for cheaper options. Additionally, parents would like to know that stores are carrying a wide variety of styles and sizes. They would also like stores to have the proper inventory to match school lists and to keep items in-stock all summer. Finally, it is important to parents that stores provide convenience for them by keeping everything in one section. Additionally, they want easy check-out options and good customer service.
Stock-Up Strategy For Retailers
It is important for retailers to have a perfect stock-up strategy for the back-to-school season. Merchants must carry all necessary items which match on school lists. Furthermore, it is vital that they provide a wide variety of items, which will last throughout the whole summer. In addition to a great stock-up strategy, it is vital that merchants provide the payment methods that their customers want and need. By providing the right payment types, retailers ensure that their customers are happy, increase their revenue and minimize cart abandonment in the long run.
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