For the second year in a row, retailers can count on a healthy back-to-school season for a sales boost in the third quarter, according to the findings of a new National Retail Federation (NRF) survey. The NRF 2004 Back-to-School Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch for NRF, found that families with school-aged children will spend an average of $483.28 on back-to-school items, up 7.2% from $450.76 last year. In all, adults will spend $14.79 billion sending elementary through high school students back to school this year.
Nearly every family with school-aged children intends to purchase clothes, shoes, and school supplies this year (93%, on average), with almost half of consumers (41.7%) planning to buy electronics or computer-related equipment as well. This year, the average consumer plans to spend $219.46 on clothing, $89.72 on shoes, and $73.06 on school supplies. Families will also spend about 15 percent more ($101.03 vs. $86.03) on electronics and computer-related equipment than they did last year.
“Though parents still spend the majority of their back-to-school budget on clothes and shoes, spending on electronics has soared in the past several years,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Electronics have become affordable for most families, enabling parents to continue their children's education at home.”
In addition to the $14.79 billion adults will be spending, kids and teenagers will also be giving their wallets a workout. Almost half of parents (45.5%) surveyed said their teenagers would be spending their own money on back-to-school items. Teenagers who will spend their own money plan to spend an average of $84.58, according to parents. And 23.3 percent of parents said that their 6-12-year-olds will spend their own money, spending $40.48 on average. Collectively, teens and preteens will spend $884 million of their own money on back-to-school this year.
“Retailers should not overlook the spending power of teenagers and their younger counterparts,” said Phil Rist, Vice President of Strategy for BIGresearch. “Many students will be out in full force shopping for back-to-school merchandise and, this year, they have money to spend.”
Choosing convenience over price, consumers will shop in fewer stores for back-to-school merchandise this year. While most consumers still plan to shop at discount stores (75.9%), others will shop at department stores (41.9%) and office supply stores (35.1%). Also, 18.2 percent plan to purchase goods at specialty stores, 14.9 percent will shop at drug stores, and 14.3 percent will shop for back-to-school merchandise online.
Some parents began their back-to-school shopping before their kids were barely out of school. Nearly one in six consumers (15.1%) started back-to-school shopping at least two months before school starts. More commonly, parents start shopping three weeks to one month before school begins (40.9%) or one to two weeks before (34.6%). Only 2.8 percent will wait until school starts to begin shopping for back-to-school items.
