It’s no secret that Back-to-School (BTS) is major revenue opportunities for retailers. And due to changes in the retail landscape, the BTS shopping season witnesses a huge competition. So, the way to make the most of next year’s BTS shopping season is to make online sales your top priority with an early strategy.

The below research brief provides some useful data about what are the activities of both retailers and consumers during the back-to-school season:

Retailers Back-to-School Insights in US, 2017:

• 81% of retailers planned to offer more deals on back-to-school in 2017 than in 2016.
• 85% also planned to invest more in their back-to-school marketing efforts this year compared to the last one.
• Nearly 8 in 10 intended to start their back-to-school promotions earlier this year.
• 40% of retail marketers began their promotions early during May & June.
• The vast majority of them (9 in 10) increased their marketing investments across mobile (89%) and social media (88%).
• 62% of retailers and brands intended to make a partnership with companies who are experts in online and mobile promotions.
• 62% of retailers & brands intended to make a partnership with companies who are experts in online and mobile promotions.
• 70% of them used their partner apps to issue mobile offers, compared to 65% did so through their own app.

Consumers Back-to-School Insights in US, 2017:

• 63% of parents in the US reported that they will spend more than $100 per person on back-to-school shopping, while 33% will spend over $250.
• 43% reported that they feel stress about finding the best deals during this season.
• Roughly 4 in 5 of parents like to plan ahead in order to avoid the stress of back-to-school shopping.
• 82% search for deals most of the time (30% often, 29% sometimes & 23% always).
• Almost half of US back-to-school shoppers began searching for back-to-school in June & July, while 42% began their journey in August.

Graph Shows the Main Driver for Back to School Shopping in 2017

Methodology:

Data were driven from 1,000 US consumers aged 18 and over. Besides 201 marketing decision-makers who work at organizations that sell products both online and in physical retail locations. The survey was conducted between June 6 and June 12, 2017.