The most popular back-to-school retailer is…
A new survey reveals the retailer capturing the largest share of back-to-school sales.
Walmart is capturing a leading 34% of back-to-school spending, according to a survey of 2,000 parents/guardians of school-aged children and analysis of verified school supply purchase data from Numerator. Amazon and Target follow in the second and third spots, respectively, with Amazon having moved past Target in 2023.
Amazon’s rise coincides with overall online retailer share of traditional school supply sales growing from 22.7% in 2019 to 37% in 2023. Other notable findings include:
The survey found that three-quarters of households are still planning to purchase traditional school supplies After apparel and shoes (73.7% plan to buy), the top back-to-school items surveyed consumers plan to purchase are pens and pencils (72.9%), paper/notebooks (71.3%), folders/binders (66.2%), backpacks or lunch boxes (58.2%), and crayons/markers / colored pencils (56.3%).
In other findings, sale events also play into retailer choice for back-to-school. More than half (52%) of respondents say getting back-to-school items for the best price possible is their top priority, and 69% say they shop during sale events to save money.
Other notable findings from the Numerator report include:
•Two-thirds of households will reuse supplies from previous years Only 34% of respondents said they will purchase all new school supplies this year, while 39% will have mostly new and some reused supplies, and 19.6% will have half new and half reused. More than half (56.6%) of respondents said they will spend less than $100 on school supplies.
•Households are still purchasing traditional school supplies, but they are purchasing fewer items and paying more Purchasing data analyzed by Numerator shows traditional back-to-school staples (such as paper and paper-adjacent categories) have seen declining volume year-over-year, while the overall number of consumers purchasing these products has remained relatively stable. In addition, overall dollar sales and household spending continue to rise, which Numerator says is a reflection of both inflation and families investing in higher-priced items like backpacks.
•Most students have a say in their school supplies More than eight-in-10 (83%) of respondents with children entering K-12 this upcoming school year said their children were somewhat or very involved in picking out their back-to-school items.
[READ MORE: High prices, budgeting and finding deals among back-to-school shopping concerns]
Purchase data (total commerce panel): looks at sales from July through August among households with children. Numerator’s 2024 Traditional Back-to-School Survey was fielded July 29 – Aug. 1, 2024 to 1,000 parents / guardians with children entering K-12 this school year, and the 2024 School Electronics survey was fielded Aug. 2-5, 2024 to 2,000 guardians with children in K-12 for the 2023/24 school year.