New in Back to School Shopping

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By Deloitte, Special for   USDR

Consumers have their eye on different retailers and items to fill their carts this back-to-school season, according to Deloitte’s “2017 Back-to-School Survey” of parents with children in grades K-12. Parents expect to spend an average $501 per student on back-to-school this year, on par with last year, reaching an estimated $27  billion.

Mass merchants and off-price retailers may get all A’s at the expense of traditional department stores and specialty clothing retailers this back-to-school season. The majority of survey respondents (81 percent) plan to shop at mass merchants − a 24 percentage point jump from last year. Off-price stores also gained fans, climbing to 28 percent from 10 percent in 2016. While the same number (28 percent) say they’ll shop traditional department stores, that’s down significantly from 54 percent last year. Just 8 percent of parents plan to visit specialty clothing stores, falling from 25 percent in  2016.

The survey also reveals a category shift among the items respondents intend to buy for their children: Clothing and accessories are expected to account for 55 percent of families’ spending – up 10 percentage points from last year – pulling primarily from school supplies and  computers.

“With today’s technology-based education system there is less need for traditional school supplies, likely contributing to the shift toward more spending on clothing and accessories before children head back to school,” said Rod Sides, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and U.S. retail, wholesale and distribution practice leader. “Part of this shift may also come from the popularity of preconfigured school supply kits, which 30 percent of families plan to use. Shoppers can now get their supplies all at once leaving more time and budget for spending in other categories such as clothing and  accessories.”

Undecided but ready to  spend
Retailers that hit the books to study the “undecided” back-to-school shopper – those who don’t know whether they will shop online or in-store – may score higher marks this year. “Undecided” shoppers are more likely to choose retailers that offer free shipping (68 percent), buy online and return to store (52 percent), and offer loyalty programs that provide faster or cheaper discounts when shopping online (49  percent).

“Retailers should aggressively pursue the ‘undecided’ consumer because they collectively represent nearly $5.4 billionthis back-to-school shopping season,” added Sides. “This segment is up for grabs but likely to go to retailers that draw customers in early with promotions and digital experiences that make store visits even more attractive, like inventory visibility, order tracking or buy online/pick up in  store.”

Retailers that bring shoppers in early get an A+ for back-to-school  sales
Retailers that attract shoppers to their stores earlier this summer may earn a greater portion of back-to-school sales. Deloitte’s survey found that the 60 percent of shoppers hitting stores before August likely to spend an average of $532, 16 percent higher than the remaining 40 percent of parents who start shopping in August or later ($458). As a result of different school start dates across the country, shopping trends also vary greatly by regional location with the highest average spent $554 (44 percent) in the South region this back-to-school  season.

This annual Deloitte survey was conducted online using an independent research panel between May 31 and June 6, 2017. The survey polled a sample of 1,200 parents of school-aged children and has a margin of error for the entire sample of plus or minus three percentage points. All respondents had at least one child attending school in grades K – 12 this  fall.

Deloitte is a leading presence in the retail and distribution industry, providing audit, consulting, risk management, financial advisory and tax services to more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500 retailers. With more than 2,400 professionals, Deloitte’s retail and distribution practice provides insights, services and approaches designed to assist retailers across all major subsectors including apparel, grocery, food and drug, wholesale and distribution and online. For more information about Deloitte’s retail and distribution sector, please visit www.deloitte.com/us/retail-distributionor follow us  @DeloitteCB.

About  Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 6,000 private and middle market companies. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to make their most challenging business decisions with confidence, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy  society.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member  firms.

 

SOURCE  Deloitte

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