Inflation is hitting back-to-school shopping, according to the findings of a survey of 2,400 households conducted by Numerator at the end of June.
Most shoppers (98%) said they would find ways to cut spending, including buying items on sale (74% of consumers), looking for online deals (52%), reusing old supplies (50%), using more coupons (41%), switching to cheaper brands (36%), shopping at more dollar or discount stores (28%), and buying fewer items (26%).
Back-to-school shopping will skew heavily to in-store, mass retailers. Nearly nine in 10 consumers (89%) plan to shop at Mass retailers for back-to-school supplies, followed by 36% who plan to shop at online-only retailers, 22% at club stores, 12% at drug stores, and 8% at specialty retailers.
Among those consumers who plan to shop in-store, the most popular retailers for back-to-school items were Walmart (83% of consumers), Target (64%), Dollar General (23%), Sam’s Club (16%), and Costco (14%).
Numerator also found that 48% of shoppers planned to spend more than $100 on their products, and only 13% expected to spend less than $50.
Numerator’s 2022 Back-to-School survey was fielded from 6/27/22 – 6/30/22 to 2,396 parents / guardians with children in grades K-8. The report showcases overall consumer plans as well as comparisons to their back-to-school purchases last year.
You can download the full report on the Numerator website.
