Back-to-School Shopping Heats Up

Temperatures across the nation are not the only things rising this summer. So is Americans’ back-to-school-shopping fever. With a little more than a month of summer vacation left to go for most students, a new study by BIGresearch based on the new National Retail Federation Consumer Intentions and Actions Back-to-School survey found that families with school-age children expect to spend nearly 7 percent more on back-to-school merchandise this year, an estimated average of $563.49 compared to last year’s average of $527.08. Here are some of the survey’s findings.

* Total back-to-school spending this year is expected to reach $18.4 billion.

* Electronics will see the biggest increase in sales, with families expected to spend 13 percent more this year than last year ($129.24 vs. $114.38).

* Footwear also will see a sharp increase in sales, with sales set to rise 10.3 percent over last year ($108.42 vs. $98.34).

* Families on average likely will spend $94.02 on school supplies, up from $86.22 a year ago.

* The majority of shoppers will buy clothing and accessories this year (95.4 percent), making this the largest spending category at $7.6 billion.

* The percentage of parents who will shop online this year is expected to rise significantly, from 15.2 percent last year to 21.4 percent this year, a 40.8 percent increase.

* The majority of shoppers (45.2 percent) plan to begin their shopping three weeks to a month before school starts; 32 percent will begin one to two weeks prior; 14.6 percent begin at least two months before school starts; and 5.4 percent said they’d wait until the week before school begins. Just 2.7 percent indicated that they’d wait until after school starts to do their shopping.

For more information, go to www.bigresearch.com.