Back-to-School Spending Predicted to Be Down

Jennifer Polanz & Allison Westbrook

According to an early survey by Bizrate Insights, about 62% of households plan to spend less on back-to-school supplies than last year. Their average spend will be about $606 or $1,086 for families with college-age students. Although they’re spending less, some are purchasing earlier, with 5% of shoppers having started in April, and 7% that planned to start shopping before June. The majority of shoppers typically start in July and early August.

According to a study by Field Agent, a mobile audit and research company, online shopping also plays a factor, as 64% of families will purchase at least some school supplies online. For those in-store shoppers, they might want reconsider bringing the older children along, as the effect of children’s preferences on back-to-school items increase with their age. Studies show that shopping decisions are influenced from 49% of the time for preschool children all the way up to 65% of the time for high schoolers. GP