The busiest days for back-to-school shopping will be…

An unusually late Labor Day this year is expected to have little impact on back-to-school shopping. 

Peak back-to-school traffic is expected in August nationwide, according to data from Sensormatic Solutions’ ShopperTrak Analytics. Despite this year’s late Labor Day (Sept. 7), the overall timing and in-store visit counts for back-to-school shopping are expected to remain relatively consistent, with the busiest shopping days predicted to fall between Aug. 2 and 28 across all regions. (See end of article for busiest days by region.)

Overall, in-store shopper traffic trends are expected to be in line with year-to-date performance, which has averaged -2.3%.

“We expect that each region’s busiest day will occur roughly two weeks before the local school year begins, a timing driven by the school calendar that varies by market,” said Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions, which is part of Johnson Controls. “Retailers should consider forecasting traffic volume relative to each market's start date, rather than copying another region's strategy. This school calendar-driven, region-specific approach may be the key to success this back-to-school season.”