Regional Spending on Back-To-School Shifts to Down-East and Out-West The NRF 2005 Back-to-School Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found that families
with school-aged children will spend an average of $443.77 on back-to-school items, down 8.2 percent from $483.28 last year. Back-to-school spending is estimated to reach $13.39 billion this year,
down from $14.79 billion last year.
Most of the spending drop will stem from the electronics category, where spending is expected to fall more than a billion dollars compared to
last year ($2.06 billion versus $3.09 billion last year). While 44.0 percent of consumers plan to purchase electronics for back-to-school, similar to the 41.7 percent who purchased for that category
last year, average spending is expected to fall to $68.08, compared with $101.03 last year.
Tracy Mullin, NRF President and CEO, said "Though many consumers will be buying electronics
this year, they may be taking a break from spending on high-end computers and other expensive gadgets. ...The real windfall for electronics retailers will likely be from college students, who are
continuing to spend money on computers, mp3 players, and cell phones."
Similar to last year, consumers plan to buy
- clothing (93.9%)
-
shoes (92.3%)
- school supplies (95.1%)
Parents plan to spend an average of $205.31 on apparel, slightly less than the $219.46 they allocated last year.
Consumers will also spend an average of $88.54 on shoes and $81.83 on school supplies.
- One of the largest shifts in the survey came from changes in spending by
region. Consumers in the Midwest, who spent more on average last year than any other region ($571.67) are expected to pull back the reins this year, spending only $404.68.
-
Consumers in the Northeast, who spent an average of $435.37 last year, plan to bump up their spending to $513.07.
- Spending in the South will drop significantly ($535.53 in 2004
vs. $434.09 this year).
- Spending in the West will increase substantially ($381.47 last year vs. $409.19 this year)..
According to the survey,
children will also be spending less of their own money this year for back-to-school items.
- Teenagers would be spending an average of $20.47 of their own money,
down from $38.51 last year.
- The average pre-teen will spend $8.12 of their own money versus $9.44 last year.
And, 77.0% of parents will head to a
discounter to shop for back-to-school items.
Go here for more on this study.