• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, September 13, 2021

Publicis Commerce has issued a research piece highlighting Back-To-School shopping trends this year.

For one thing, BTS shopping started earlier according to the report, which cites Google data indicating that about 25% of college students and 20% of primary and high school students had already started their BTS shopping by April.

Overall sales are expected to rise 9.3% this year to $95.8 billion after declining 4.6% last year. The report cites eMarketer for the sales forecast.

The report offers advice for marketers in the BTS space:

“Keep your pricing competitive: If your product is something that is purchased throughout the year, it is necessary to offer discounts to stand out during back to school. Additionally, keeping an eye on competitors’ pricing strategies and inventories is critical in ensuring successful, tactical performance in marketing and advertising your products across retailers.”

The agency also advises brands to be tops in the search ranks. “Our data showed that consumers are searching for electronics so brands in this space should not be afraid to spend more to ­find your target audience as we know they are willing to buy right now.”

The report also asserts that lesser-known brands have a chance to be successful. “Back to school is a time when shoppers are purchasing based on need, so lesser-known brands have an opportunity to enter the best sellers list, when they normally wouldn’t have had the chance if they can offer something that brand-names can’t.”

According to the report, in 2021, half of U.S. BTS shoppers plan to spend more this year versus last year. And 32% of Target customers state they will be investing in their at home learning setup.