• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 7, 2016

The National Retail Federation, which plans to release its complete back-to-school forecast next week, says its early analysis finds that parents are looking to spend more carefully this year, with a greater reliance on sales and coupons.

The survey, fielded by Prosper Insights & Analytics and based on some 6,800 parents, reports that 54% of families with kids in kindergarten through high school plan to spend about the same as they did last year. (That’s down a bit from 57% who said the same thing last year.) And 37% of those with college-bound kids say they plan to keep spending steady, up a tick or two from 35% last year.

Overall, they seem more intent on saving, with 28% vowing to use more coupons, 25% relying more heavily on ad circulars and newspapers for better deals, 30% saying they will shop for more sales, and 28% planning to buy more store brands.

Target hopes to benefit from that smart-shopping parent, as it gears up for the big Cat & Jack launch announced earlier this year. While most of the collection doesn’t go on sale until July 17, school uniforms are available now online. All told, there are 2,000 pieces in the massive line, much of it designed with the help of kids themselves. Target says it believes Cat & Jack will generate $1 billion in sales in its first fiscal year.

A separate survey from the Rubicon Project says that many parents — 34% of those with children K through 12 and 49% of those with college kids — are shopping already. This survey, based on some 1,500 parents, reports a planned increase in spending, with 61% of parents saying they are budgeting more for this year’s shopping, with an average of $917 per child on average. (That rises to about $1,300 per freshmen, including tech purchases.)