Price and Efficiency, Main Drivers of Back-to-School Spending this Year

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While kids may be off from school, it seems parents won’t be giving them a vacation from back-to-school shopping. According to JLL’s Back-to-School survey of nearly 2,000 consumers nationwide, only seven percent of respondents will wait until after school starts to do their shopping, a decrease from last year’s nearly 11 percent that said they would wait for school to begin. Of the 93 percent that will shop prior to the school year’s commencement, 86 percent plan to do it two weeks to a full month ahead of time.

Price is one of the leading factors in buying decisions this year, with just over 70 percent of respondents ranking “low prices” as the top or second most important influencer in their purchases. Consumers appear to also value efficiency as nearly 82 percent will shop at five or fewer stores for their goods.InfluenceShopping_v1

“This year price and efficiency were the top factors influencing shopper’s back-to-school buying habits, but we’re seeing many shoppers increase their budgets, with 12 percent of shoppers spending more this year than last year,” said Greg Maloney, CEO of JLL Retail. “While consumers may be more price conscious when it comes to back-to-school shopping, favoring superstores due to their low prices and large selection across multiple categories, the good news for retailers is that families also consider it essential spending – as opposed to the discretionary spending nature of the holidays, which can be a bit more volatile.”

Learn more about consumers budgets and behaviors, the top stores across income levels and the role online plays in back-to-school shopping by downloading the full report. 

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