Study: BTS shoppers consolidated trips, curbed non-essential spending
New data reveals that back-to-school shoppers were cautious this year, spending more but making fewer store visits.
Shoppers consolidated visits, focused on apparel, and showed signs of more cost-conscious spending decisions, according to a report from in-store analytics platform RetailNext, which analyzed over 7 million shopping trips across thousands of U.S. stores in July and August 2025,
Store visits slipped -2.3% in July and -2.8% in August compared to last year. However, sales held steady, with July slightly up 0.4% and August down just -0.7%. Spend per shopper rose +2.2% in July and +1.8% in August, even though baskets held fewer items.
Shoppers picked up less this back-to-school season (units per transaction were down 1.0% in July and 1.4% in August), but they were willing to pay more per item, as the average unit retail rose 3.0% in July and 3.3% in August.
[READ MORE: Report: Parents spent $570 per child on BTS needs]
Clothing remained the core purchase, according to the report, as apparel traffic barely moved, down 0.4% in July and 0.3% in August. However, year-over-year declines for the shoe category were steep (4.7% in July and 7.3% in August), but demand spiked during the peak back-to-school weeks. From early July through early August, footwear traffic jumped 13% above June’s average and 11% higher than late August. Beauty also softened, down 0.6% in July and 3.0% in August.
Outside of school-related categories, families spent less. Jewelry spending dipped down from 0.3% in July to 0.9% in August, though it saw a 3–6% traffic lift during the July–August shopping period compared to the rest of the 2025 summer. Home goods fell 5.4% in July and 2.8% in August, which RetailNext says means parents scaled back on non-essential items in favor of back-to-school needs.
While overall retail traffic was still down year over year, July and August showed smaller declines than earlier in 2025, making back-to-school one of the stronger periods of the year.
“Back-to-school shoppers were careful but decisive,” said Joe Shasteen, global manager of advanced analytics at RetailNext. “Families cut trips, spent more per visit, and prioritized apparel and enclosed malls over other categories and formats. It’s a clear sign of how consumer confidence may impact shopping behavior heading into the holidays.”
Additional insights from the RetailNext report include the following:
- Shoppers leaned on malls as their main back-to-school shopping destination. Traditional malls were flat in July (0.0%) and only dipped -0.9% in August. Luxury centers even posted a small gain in July (+0.1%) before softening in August (-2.3%). Lifestyle centers, which combine retail with mixed-use spaces like apartments, offices, restaurants, and gyms, underperformed (-3.1% in July, -3.0% in August). Outlets (-3.7% in July, -4.0% in August) underperformed, showing no boost from discounts. By August, strip malls (-3.7%) and freestanding stores (-3.1%) held up slightly better than outlets.
- Regional performance showed resilience in the Midwest and sharper pullbacks on the coasts. The Midwest slipped just -0.8% in July and -1.4% in August. The South tracked close to average in August at -2.8%, improving from -3.1% in July. The West fell from -3.1% in July to -3.6% in August, while the Northeast slid from -2.2% to -3.5%.
