Dive Brief:
- About 40% of parents expect to be more financially stressed this back-to-school shopping season compared to last year, according to a survey from Omnisend released Thursday.
- The survey of 1,075 U.S. consumers found that 45% of households plan to use buy now, pay later financing for back-to-school purchases. That marks an increase from 39% of households in 2025.
- Nearly 20% of those surveyed expect to spend more than $1,000 on their back-to-school purchases this year, while 44% anticipate spending over $500.
Dive Insight:
Stressed parents — who are most worried about affording items such as apparel, backpacks and electronics, according to Omnisend — may be looking for more deals this school season.
Several retailers have touted their move to maintain certain 2025 prices on back-to-school merchandise this year. Staples and Dollar General earlier this month highlighted 2025 pricing on their offerings, as well as dozens of products priced at $1 and under.
Kohl’s announced thousands of back-to-school products would be under $25 this season and Walmart announced its lowest prices since 2019 on 14 of the most popular school supplies.
With pricing top of mind for some parents, Omnisend’s survey found that nearly one in three households expect BNPL to cover over half of their school spending this year.
"Buy Now, Pay Later used to be associated with discretionary spending,” Marty Bauer, e-commerce expert at Omnisend, said in a statement. “Now it's increasingly becoming a budgeting tool for predictable, everyday expenses. Back-to-school shopping isn't a surprise purchase, so the fact that so many parents still rely on BNPL suggests household budgets have less room to absorb even expected annual costs.”
To help fund this year’s school expenses, 30% of parents plan to cut back costs for family activities and entertainment. Meanwhile, 22% plan to utilize credit, 21% will use savings meant for something else and 18% plan to borrow funds from friends or family, Omnisend found.
