Back-to-School Shopping Reveals Holiday Implications for Retailers

Despite lackluster predictions for this year's back-to-school shopping season, IBM's Digital Analytics Benchmark uncovered substantial gains in online sales from July through the third week in August, including double-digit percentage growth in mobile sales. Retailers rolled out back-to-school promotions ahead of Fourth of July and employed campaigns similar to their Cyber Monday and Black Friday promotions. Department stores benefited strongly from these tactics, with online sales up 33 percent over last year, powered by a 40 percent increase in mobile sales this July.