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Dayton Business Journal...
Report: Parents to spend $604 on school shopping
by Ginger Christ, DBJ Staff Reporter
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Retailers likely won’t see a major boost in sales from back-to-school spending this summer.
Kindergarten through 12th grade school shopping is expected to be
largely unchanged from 2010, with parents believed to dole out an
average of $2 more — $604 — this year on apparel, school supplies and
electronics, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2011
Back-to-School survey.
Total spending on kindergarten through 12th grade supplies is expected to reach $22.8 billion.
“Families aren’t opposed to spending on what they need, but parents
want their children to take a good look around at what they already
have before deciding what to buy for back to school this year,” said
NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay, in a news release. “Retailers
understand consumers are extremely focused on value and are taking this
opportunity to offer substantial savings on merchandise.”
Note: Click above the photo on the right for a slideshow of cool back-to-school items.
The back-to-school market entails many of the national players
including Wal-Mart Stores , Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. , all of
which have Dayton operations.
And although the recession is over, shoppers remain hesitant about spending.
According to the survey, 40 percent plan to purchase more store-brand
or generic items; 30 percent plan to do more comparison shopping
online; and 50 percent intent to shop for sales. Forty-four percent
said the economy is forcing them to spend less overall.
While shoes, notebooks and pencils remain on most lists, the growing
mobile technology market has become must-have for many
back-to-schoolers, said a report on MSNBC
For example, some elementary kids now vie for smartphone upgrades to
their iPhone’s or Google Inc. Android devices, while college students
are seeking the latest tablets, such as Apple Inc. ’s iPad 2 and
Hewlett-Packard ’s TouchPad.
College shoppers this year look to spend an average of $809 on
supplies, down 3.2 percent from $836 last year. And four out of five
shoppers say the economy will impact their spending. Thirty percent of
respondents plan to use items from the previous school year and 45
percent intend to spend less, according to the survey.
Electronics purchases will constitute the bulk of back-to-college
spending, with the average shopper planning to spend $210 on
electronics. That marks an 11 percent decrease from 2010, when shoppers
spent $234 on electronics. And only 46 percent of students plan to buy
electronics, which is the lowest level recorded in the survey since
2005.
Combined K-12 and college spending, which will reach $68.8 billion, is
the second biggest consumer spending event for retailers behind the
winter holidays.
NRF’s back-to-school and back-to-college surveys were conducted by
BIGresearch July 1 to July 6, with nearly 8,700 consumers polled.
Read it with links at Dayton Business Journal
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