High prices, budgeting and finding deals among back-to-school shopping concerns
High prices are the primary stressor for back-to-school shoppers this season for the second year in a row.
According to a new survey of 1,202 U.S. adult consumers from RetailMeNot, parents sending kids back to school are planning to spend $506 on grade school supplies and $821 for college students on average this year. This year, 41% of shoppers (similar to last year’s 46%) say the cost of supplies is their biggest source of stress. Meanwhile, 40% say they’re stressed about staying on budget, and 39% are stressed about finding the best deals.
Ahead of the upcoming school year, 62% of respondents said they plan to purchase general school supplies, 61% said they plan to purchase clothing and shoes, 50% said they plan to purchase backpacks & bags, and 42% said they plan to purchase health and hygiene products (42%).
When it comes to shoppers’ priorities, purchasing items based on quality and/or durability was the top concern (23%), followed by making sure kids are happy with items purchased (20%) and efficiently managing a budget (18%).
[READ MORE: Survey: Back-to-school shoppers headed to discount stores]
Parents are also planning to involve their children in their shopping sprees this year. According to the RetailMeNot survey, 76% plan to involve their kids in grade school and 59% plan to involve their kids in college.
Most survey respondents said they planned to get started on their back-to-school shopping early. More than a third (37%) of those shopping for grade school students and 35% shopping for college students said they planned to start shopping for school in July. This compares to 25% of grade school student shoppers and 28% of college student shoppers who planned to start in August, with September seeing single digit numbers for those who planned to start shopping last-minute.
