Report: Majority of Back-to-School Shoppers Plan to Purchase at Mass Retailers

Eighty percent of back-to-school shoppers are planning to buy their supplies at mass retailers (e.g., Walmart, Target, etc.), while 20 percent plan to shop at dollar stores, and 15 percent plan to shop at club stores. These are a just a few of the findings from data and tech company Numerator's 2023 Back-to-School Preview, which includes data from a survey of 1,200 consumers who plan to make back-to-school purchases this year.

Other findings include the following:

• The majority of consumers prefer to shop in-store for back-to-school items. Sixty-nine percent of respondents plan to buy their supplies in-store, 17 percent plan to buy online and have the items delivered, and 9 percent plan to buy online for in-store pickup.
• Shoppers want to finish back-to-school shopping quickly and early. Thirty-four percent of back-to-school shoppers say they will try to get all of their shopping done in one day or trip. In addition, 86 percent plan to be done shopping by early August, and only 2 percent say they'll continue shopping until September or later.
• Over half of back-to-school shoppers will spend more than $100 on supplies. This year, 57 percent of respondents said they plan to spend over $100 on school supplies. In addition, while 55 percent of consumers say they will spend roughly the same amount as last year, 32 percent expect their spend to increase, while 14 percent expect to spend less
• Nearly half of back-to-school shoppers plan to shop sales. Consumers are looking to save on back-to-school spending by shopping sales (45 percent), using coupons (35 percent), comparing prices (34 percent), and reusing old supplies (33 percent).

Total Retail's Take: For many retailers, back-to-school season is one of the most important consumer shopping occasions of the year. For those retailers that cater to this set of busy families, they better get ready: consumers are expected to spend record amounts for both back-to-school and back-to-college shopping this year, according to the annual survey released last month by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Back-to-school spending is expected to reach an unparalleled $41.5 billion, up from $36.9 billion last year and the previous high of $37.1 billion in 2021. Back-to-college spending is expected to hit $94 billion, about $20 billion more than last year’s record.