Consumers Reducing Their Spend to Focus on BTS Essentials: NRF
Since 2019, expected U.S. back-to-college spending has grown by $19 billion, with consumers laying out $223 more on average than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, said the National Retail Federation Thursday. Back-to-school (BTS) spending is expected to match 2021’s…
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$37 billion: Families with children K-12 plan to spend an average $864 on school items, about $15 more than last year; back-to-college spending is projected at $74 billion, up from $71 billion in 2021. College students and their families plan to spend $1,199 on school items, on par with last year’s $1,200, NRF said. Nearly half of the increase comes from spending on electronics and dorm or apartment furnishings. Amid rising inflation, 38% of consumers are cutting back other spending to cover the cost of school items, said a survey of 7,830 consumers fielded June 30-July 7. “Families consider back-to-school and college items as an essential category, and they are taking whatever steps they can, including cutting back on discretionary spending, shopping sales and buying store- or off-brand items, in order to purchase what they need for the upcoming school year,” said NRF CEO Matthew Shay. As of early July, 56% of shoppers had started shopping for school and college supplies, and 68% said they faced higher prices on school items. Sales events are likely to play a larger role for BTS shoppers, with 81% saying they planned to use this week to shop for school items: Some 62% planned to shop Prime Day deals on Amazon, 31% planned to shop other online retailers and 20% said they planned to look for deals in stores, NRF said. The top five BTS shopping destinations are online (50%), department stores (45%), discount retailers (40%), clothing stores (37%) and electronics stores (28%); for college, top shopping destinations are online (43%), department stores (36%), discount stores (29%), office supply stores (27%) and college bookstores (26%), it said.