Part of shoppers who return to school who have already started buying goods for the next academic year by early July is up to 67 % this year, which is much higher than the average last year of 55 % and the highest mark since 2018, according to a survey of the National Federation of Retail (NRF) and Prosper Insights.
Researchers said that this shift is driven by a large part of it with concern that prices will rise due to the customs tariff, which is expressed by more than half (51 %) of families to school. The survey included 7581 consumers and was presented from 1 to 7 July.
Despite that early beginning, there is still a lot of shopping. Most consumers (84 %) still have at least half of their purchases to complete it. The most important reasons that make consumers shop to do so are that they are waiting for the best deals (47 %), they do not yet know the required elements (39 %), or plan to spread their budgets (24 %).
In addition, four out of five shoppers (82 %) planned to buy goods for the next academic year during July sales events such as Prime Day, Walmart Deals and Target Circle Week. It was sorted by channel, higher shopping for university students and their parents remain online (48 %), followed by discount stores (36 %), departments stores (35 %) and college libraries (27 %). While these destinations are in line with the year 2024, the discount stores have increased popular by five percentage points this year as shoppers search for value.
“Consumers realize the potential effects of definitions and inflation on the elements of the school, and they have turned into early shopping, discount stores and summer sales of sales on the basics of schools.” “While shoppers are looking for the best deals on clothes, laptops and other schools related to schools, retailers focus greatly on the ability to withstand costs and make the shopping experience smooth as possible.”
It is expected that the total consecutive spending to the college will be 88.8 billion dollars, an increase of 86.6 billion dollars last year. “This increase can be largely attributed to higher income families, while low -income families are declining across the categories due to economic uncertainty,” said Felle Rest. “Regardless of income, families want to make sure that their students have been prepared for success. They are underestimating in other areas, using the purchase now, paying later, or buying the items used or renewed to get everything they need in the school year.”
