Electronics Now a Core Back-to-School Driver, Says NRF
Back-to-school (BTS) shopping since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is “a story largely about electronics,” said Katherine Cullen, National Retail Federation senior director-industry and consumer insights, on a Tuesday webcast. Per-person electronics spending grew from $203 and $235 in…
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2019 for BTS (K-12) and back-to-college (BTC) students to $296 and $306 last year; this season’s per-person spend on electronics is estimated at $293 for BTS and $300 for BTC. Overall, BTS spending grew from $26.2 billion in 2019 to a record $37.1 billion in 2021, and NRF projects $36.9 billion for this year. Back-to-college spending was $54.5 billion in 2019, $71 billion last year, with $73.9 billion projected for 2022. Both student segments “dramatically increased their spending" on electronics during the BTS season since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with about 50% of the growth in BTS spending and a quarter of BTC spending driven by electronics, Cullen said. Continued high electronics numbers were initially “a little surprising” due to the spike in spending throughout the pandemic when people shifted to virtual and hybrid learning, Cullen said. She credited “stickiness” in electronics, saying, “It has really become a core category for the back-to-class season.” She noted a difference in the types of electronics people are buying this year vs. last year. Purchases are consistent for laptops, mobile devices and calculators, but she cited “softness” in computer mice, speakers and printers, “things that people may have really stocked up on during the pandemic.” Cullen said consumers are more concerned about supply chain disruptions this year than last, which led to early shopping. Many retailers brought in inventory early in the year to avoid supply chain bottlenecks, she noted. Consumer data is based on a survey of 7,000 respondents.