After days of dreary reports seemingly coming from all comers, some sunlight appears on the horizon.
The infusion of cheer comes care of new back-to-school shopping projections that indicate that getting ready for next year is already happening and will continue at a fairly strong pace throughout the summer season.
The data comes from a joint report by Yahoo and Ipsos Connect “Back-to-school Back-to-college Shoppers April 2016,” which indicates that the back-to-schooler this year on average will spend about 37 percent more than they did last year — $470 on average as opposed to $343. And the shopping itself is increasingly being done by non-parents. Students under 18 tend to spend as much as $273 per year on back-to-school supplies and one in two back-to-school shoppers are shopping neither for themselves or their children.
All in, 46 percent of participants start the process about two months for the new school year begins — the same time period they tend to do most of their buying.
And, of course, how consumers are doing their back-to-school shopping is becoming increasing multi-channel, with 55 percent of shoppers using the web articles for product research and 30 percent using online videos. A staggering 90 percent report finding phones useful for school shopping, and 30 percent use their phone to complete a purchase.
Back-to-school shoppers, being parents, are unsurprisingly looking for bargains. Seventy-five percent report actively looking for promotions involving discounts, and 66 percent will hold off on some shopping until school gets started to secure even better deals.
