• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 9, 2016

According to verified online buyers’ surveyed by Bizrate Insights, Back-to-school (“BTS”) shopping may not heat up until July, but 5% of shoppers have already started by April and another 7% plan to start before June. Over half of shoppers will kick off BTS shopping between late July and early August, with early August being the most popular time to begin.

Hayley Silver, VP of Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity, says “… retailers should be ready to support shoppers across channels by the end of June. Product availability, price and coupons are important, as are indicators of quality, such as ratings, reviews and guarantees," says

About 62% of households plan to spend less this year than last year on back-to-school with the average household planning to spend about $606 this year. For households with college-age students, that number jumps to $1,086. When broken down by gender, male shoppers plan to spend more on BTS items, particularly those shopping for school-age children. However, 49% of all shoppers agree that quality is more important than price. 

While many back-to-school shoppers prioritize finding the right products at the right price, brand loyalty is still a factor, as 30% of BTS shoppers say it affects their decision to buy. Ratings and reviews also matter to BTS shoppers: one-fourth are influenced by store ratings.

Affects Decision To Purchase (% of respondents)

• Brand loyalty   (30%)
• Store ratings and reviews   (25%)

When you break down the BTS shoppers, who say their children’s preferences influence their decisions, are increasingly influenced as the children get older, from 49% for parents of preschool children up to 65% for high school parents.

This year in-store use of mobile devices will play a big role in back-to-school shopping. In addition, women (42%) are far more likely to use their mobile devices to look for coupons than men (27%).

The top ways BTS shoppers will use mobile for back-to-school shopping, online and in-store are:

• 69% to research products
• 48% to buy products
• 41% to price compare in-store
• 37% to look for coupons in-store

The Bizrate Insights’ Back-to-School Shopping study is based on 3,536 online buyers in the US and Canada who reported that they plan to back-to-school shop for a child (Pre-K through college), and/or for themselves for the 2016-17 school year.

For additional information about the study, please visit here.