First Data report: Back-to-school spending starting to heat up

Back to school sales appear to be rebounding this year after experiencing sluggish growth over the past three years (2013-2015).



That’s according to First Data’s Back-to-school SpendTrend report, which is based on aggregate same store sales activity in the First Data point-of-sale network.



Some of the most significant findings include:



• July 2016 spending is up 2% compared to 1% last year. August spending was down 1.9% in 2015; however based on data from the first week of August (when the majority of tax free holiday sales were taking place) spending appears to be trending up.



• Between 2013-2015, average spend per ticket has been between $59-$67. In July 2016, the average spend was $63.81, a decrease of about two dollars from the prior year. That said, transaction growth is up meaning lower prices due to discounting are driving more foot traffic and higher transaction growth rates.



• Electronics & appliances (up 5.5% YOY), sporting goods & hobby stores (up 3.4% YOY) and general merchandise stores (up 2.7% YOY) are driving the growth across the board. The clothing & accessories category experienced a significant decrease last August (down 3.3%), but the first week of August 2016 indicates a significant turnaround (tied to tax free weekend spend).



• Clothing and accessories sales were up 8.4% in tax-free states, compared to 3.0% in states that do not do tax-free holidays.