5 Strategies to Drive More Back To School Sales in 2019

Back-to-School is the second biggest shopping season of the year and the digital world has become an integral part of the customer’s path-to-purchase. 

Back to School Spending

• This year, the NRF estimates back-to-college spending alone will account for an astounding $54.5 billion.
• Together with k-12 spending, back-to-school shopping totals about $80.7 billion, down from $82.8 billion last year.
• In 2018, 23 percent of back-to-school spending happened online. This year, 29 percent of back-to-school shopping will be online.
• In 2018, k-12 back-to-school shoppers spent an average of $685 per household on school-related items… expect that amount to increase to $696.70 school spending per household.
• Back-to-college spending added another $280 per household for a total of $976.78 in college-related spending per household.
• According to Deloitte, 57 percent of k-12 back-to-school spending was in-store vs online last year. This year, the number is about the same, at 56 percent.
• While Moms do more shopping, Dads are spending $115 more on school shopping.

This infographic from The Shelf, All the Stats You Need to Rock Your Back-to-School Campaign, reveals 5 strategies that marketers can capitalize on back-to-school shopping:

1. Time-pressed parents rely on social and mobile for purchasing decisions, so be sure to personalize and schedule some great offers.
2. Think about running a New Beginnings campaign to tap into the emotions parents feel about their kids starting at a new school or college.
3. Ask brand advocates and influencers to incorporate your products into a post that they’re already working on.
4. Partner with Mommy Bloggers to help you get in front of buyers and provide you with user-generated content.
5. Parents with multiple children are especially looking for ways to save, so pair your products and group your targets into affordable packages.

Here’s the full infographic with some amazing new data for 2019 retailers and e-commerce companies: