BACK-TO -SCHOOL 2014 - National Retail Federation · PDF file7 Economic Impact On...
Transcript of BACK-TO -SCHOOL 2014 - National Retail Federation · PDF file7 Economic Impact On...
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BACK-TO -SCHOOL2014CHEAT SHEET
2National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2014 Cheat Sheet
Table of Contents
2014 Top Trends
What’s New in 2014
Where Does Back to School Rank?
A Look Back: Top Historical Trends
Economic Impact
Millennial Power: College Spending Trends
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NRF’s 2014 Back-to-School and Back-to-College spending surveys were designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to back-to-school spending and back-to-college spending. The surveys were conducted for NRF by Prosper Insights & Analytics. The poll of 6,178 consumers was conducted July 1-8. The consumer polls have a margin of error of plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.
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Top Back-to-School Trends
National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2014 Cheat Sheet
We dug deep into the data this year to figure out the top trends from this year’s back-to-school survey. Here’s a few we thought were worthy:
of shoppers will research school items with their smartphones37%
Source: 2014 Back to School/College consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics
Spending jumps 5% – Knowing full well their growing children need new items for school, and after having cut back last year, mom and dad will spend an average of $670 on their K-12th grade students. It’s likely families are already taking advantage of retailers’ bundles available online and in stores, as well as those coupons that have been arriving in the mail the last few days.
Early birds sleeping in this year – Fewer parents may be biting at the early summer deals, but 1 in 5 still say it’s completely worth their time to shop at least two months before school starts. Millennials are a lot more likely to want to gauge fashion trends after school starts, dragging mom and dad back to the stores or online once they’ve got some ideas.
Mobile shopping on the rise – 37% of shoppers will research school items with their smartphones, the highest seen since NRF started asking in 2011. These families will also commit to purchasing via their phones – 22% will purchase items, up from 18% last year.
Millennial power – High school students born in the late ‘90s are proving they have more than just power over influence, they have spending power. Teenagers will spend $913 million on their own school items. These teenagers could be part of the reason the data shows expected traffic at specialty stores over discount and department stores.
Dads have pocket power – Dads will spend an average of $754.30 on school items for their tweens and teens, up 12% from last year. Dads are also a lot more likely than mom to spend more on school supplies, apparel and, of course, electronics. Additionally, men much prefer the convenience of online shopping: 46% of men will shop online, compared to just 31% of women.
Shoppers who plan to buy more
generic products for school
because of the economy34%
School shoppers who will
shop online at least once4in10Families planning to
support local businesses
for school items17%
4National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2014 Cheat Sheet
Source: 2014 Back to School/College survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics
What’s New In 2014
Back to School By the Numbers
Number of parents who
say 100% of purchases are
influenced by children
1 in10 Average teenager
spend on school items
using their own money
$34
Amount parents with
children in high school plan
to spend on electronics
$230Shoppers planning on
buying electronic items for
“back to school”
58%
Elementary Middle school/junior high
High school
Clothing and accessories (excluding shoes) $204.76 $234.13 $232.01Shoes $101.88 $121.53 $124.25School supplies, such as notebooks, folders, pencils, backpacks and lunchboxes
$95.63 $100.81 $96.85
Electronics or computer-related equipment such as a home computer, laptop, cell phone, tablet or MP3 player
$178.67 $225.66 $229.88
Combined Average $580.94 $682.13 $682.99
Average spending by grade
Looking for more? Visit nrf.com/research to customize data found in this report and much more.
5National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2014 Cheat Sheet
total expected spend for school and college shoppers
$75billion
Back-to-School and College’s Piece of the Consumer Spending Pie
Total Spending (in billions)
While it’s not considered a traditional consumer holiday like Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day, back to school/college time is the second biggest spending season of the year. Beginning in July and ending around Labor Day, “back to school” puts billions into our nation’s economy each year. In 2014, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter ranked as the 3rd, 4th and 5th biggest spending events behind back to school/college and the winter holidays.
Shopping destinations for families this summer will likely depend on a few key ingredients: price, value and convenience. While busy families may take to the web to seek free shipping offers or select discounts to buy the array of items they need, many families with school-age children still value the annual trip to the store as a rite of passage.
Experts and analysts agree this summer will be another extremely promotional one as companies look to attract customer dollars in unique and creative ways. Realizing that today’s families are still extremely budget-focused thanks to a slow-growing economy, retailers will do their best to help mom and dad find smart ways to shop for their growing children or college students.
Back to School/College $74.9Mother's Day $19.9
Valentine's Day $17.3Easter $15.9
Father's Day $12.7Super Bowl $8.7Halloween*$6.9
St. Patrick's Day
$4.8
Winter holidays* $602.1
Source: NRF consumer surveys conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Holidays with * denote 2013 survey results.
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A Look Back: Historical Back-To-School Trends
National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2014 Cheat Sheet
2013: Talking about the expectations for consumer spending during the 2013 school season, last year NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said, “the good news is that consumers are spending, but they are doing so with cost and practicality in mind.” After spending record high amounts on new school supplies, apparel and electronics in 2012, mom and dad asked their children to reuse everything they could in 2013 to help save a few bucks.
2012: Driven less by want than need, back-to-school spending is usually more tied to growing children and “necessity purchases” than discretionary purchases. Spending in 2012 topped $690 on average, the highest seen in the survey’s 10 years thanks to two years of cutting back on budgets and a higher amount of children entering grade school.
2011: Parents kept budgets in check in 2011, making sure their children looked under their beds and dug through their desks and drawers for pens, pencils and jeans before they set out for their shopping trips. Average spend was flat from the previous year, but the percent of people buying electronics dropped sharply from 64% in 2011 to 52% in 2011, likely contributing to the overall decrease in average spend.
2011 2012 2013 2014
$603.63
$688.62
$634.78
$669.28
Average spend per household
2011 2012 2013 2014
Total spend on back to school
$22.8b
$30.3b
$26.7b$26.5b
Source: NRF surveys conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics
“Economic pressures have lessened, but there’s still
evidence that today’s family wants both great prices and value when it comes to their
school purchases.”
NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay
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Economic Impact On Consumers’ Spending Plans
National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2014 Cheat Sheet
Source: 2014 survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics
In an economy full of fits and starts, Americans have demonstrated their resilience in many ways when it comes to handling economic uncertainties. When it comes to shopping habits, specifically at times that yield bigger receipts, consumers have adapted to a new set of norms that may drive much of their shopping behavior for years to come.
In 2013, 37% of shoppers with children in grades K-12 said they would do more comparative shopping online because of the state of the economy, up 10 percentage points in just five years. This year, 1 in 5 say they will shop online more often because of the economy, slightly up from last year.
As can be expected, much of the initial impact seen on consumers’ spending intentions has lessened over time; this year, more families say the economy will drive them to buy more generic or store brand items, and will ask their kids to make do with some of last year’s items.
Families that plan to spend less overall
on school items to compensate for the
economy’s impact on the family budget
31%
Buying more generic/store brand products this year because of the economy34%Source: 2014 survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics
8National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2014 Cheat Sheet
Millennials And College Spending
While much of the hype each summer surrounds Americans’ spending plans for their elementary, middle and high school students, there’s another group whose spending plans sometimes double the average K-12th grade spender: Millennial college families.
College shoppers will spend a combined $48.4 billion on everything from dorm furnishings to collegiate wear to food items for the pantry and late night cram
sessions, up from $45.8 billion last year. The average college student and their parents will spend an average $916.48, up 10% over 2013.
Different from their younger compatriots, these power spenders take design, fashion and gadgets very seriously. Below are few key differences – or similarities – between the JV (K-12) team and the Varsity team (college):
Average spend $669$916
$26.5 billion$48.4 billion
$101$75
$8.4 billion$12.9 billion
59%47%
38%45%
26%26%
Total spend
School supplies
Electronics
Shop at department stores
Shop online
Start shopping 1 – 2 weeksbefore school starts
$683$909
$683$568
2% less than last year
20% more than last year
12% more than last year1% more than last year
High school vs. college freshman
High school vs. college senior
Moms will spend:
Dads will spend:
vs.
Source: 2014 survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics