Dive Brief:
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The concept of back-to-school shopping as an event may be ebbing, according to research from Deloitte. Social media matters less to back-to-school shopping, which is going to increase just $5 on average this year, Deloitte found. Deloitte surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. parents with students in grades K-12 between July 5 and 8, 2015.
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Some 13% of households surveyed said they’ll reuse items they bought last year for school, and 22% said they’d research or buy back-to-school items online to find the best price. Nearly a third (31%) say much of their shopping would happen after the start of the school year, up 5 points from last year, according to the survey.
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CNBC noted that research shows a discrepancy emerging between what people say they’ll spend and what they actually do spend; spending is increasing, just not during the traditional back-to-school period.
Dive Insight:
This survey backs up similar research from the National Retail Federation pointing to depressed increases in back-to-school spending. What we may be seeing, actually, is the decline of the back-to-school shopping season, and not really a decline in sales.
Deloitte and others are increasingly finding that parents are shopping for school-related items, from apparel to electronics, on an as-needed basis throughout the year rather than in a rush before school.
That means that researchers at the NRF, Deloitte, and others may need to find new ways to take the pulse of the back-to-school shopper, to capture a more accurate snapshot of what and when consumers are buying. And retail marketers may need to re-think their approach as well. Retailers need to know what is more likely to sell in the back-to-school season, which, by the way, has also become more amorphous, extending all the way to Black Friday for some.
And Black Friday, of course, has also become a several-day shopping concept rather than a one-day or even a three-day event.
"I don't think this is bad news for the economy," Alison Paul, vice chairman and U.S. retail and distribution leader at Deloitte, told CNBC. "I think it's more about [consumer] behavior. Consumers are sending a message to retailers that says the back-to-school shopping season just isn't that important anymore.”