CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yes, Back-to-School is here, and it's in full force with a lot of opportunity left for retailers to capitalize on late season shoppers according to a new survey conducted by Market Track, LLC, the leading provider of advertising, promotional, brand protection and pricing intelligence solutions in North America.
In a nationwide survey of 1,000 consumers responsible for back-to-school shopping conducted this week, 63% of shoppers have yet to complete their back-to-school shopping, with the majority saying they are holding out for late season deals. The survey also indicated that 87% of shoppers would make a trip to retailers specifically for back-to-school items. With a lot at stake for the retail industry, since back-to-school shopping has been historically the second largest retail event of the year, the survey found that 90% of shoppers indicated that they intend to spend the same or more than last year.
As retailers continue to try to entice shoppers to make their back-to-school purchases at their stores, through promotions and sales peaking in August, Market Track’s research has shown that there has been a notable shift to digitally focused promotions this season with an overall decrease in print promotions at a rate of over 20%.
However, the shift to digital promotions could be a bit ahead of where deal-minded parents are, who are primarily paying for back-to-school purchases. The survey found that print circulars are being used most by parents at a rate of 75%, while 43% of kids are using circulars to find the best back-to-school deals. Kids are more plugged into digital with 30% using retail websites and 21% using social media to see what is on sale. The results also revealed that 80% of kids are influencing the purchase decisions for back-to-school, which has driven retailers to take a diversified approach to promotions and advertising.
“Back-to-school is a unique event, in that there are opportunities to really maximize the impact of advertising and messaging through targeting the right audience, in the right media type,” said Traci Gregorski, vice president of marketing at Market Track. “Kids have more influence than ever as to what is bought for back-to-school through their interactions with new media. More retailers have been targeting specific back-to-school stakeholders with their promotional messaging in July and August. Whether you talk about Office Depot appealing to teachers last year, or Macy’s targeting students for the second year in a row, retailers are revealing a more segmented approach through their choice of message and audience,” continued Gregorski.
The survey foreshadowed that big box retailers will be the victors of the season, with 64% of parents and 56% of students saying that they will do most of their shopping for back-to-school items at mass merchandisers such as Walmart, Target and Kmart. While online shopping continues to gain traction, over 85% of respondents said they would do most of their shopping at brick and mortar stores. Mobile shopping also continues to grow, with 27% of the responses indicating shoppers have made back-to-school purchases on their mobile devices. The survey also noted that 40% of shoppers used or will use their mobile devices while in the store to compare prices and look for discounts on back-to-school products.
About the Survey
Market Track conducted a survey of 1,000 shoppers who both have children, and are responsible for back-to-school purchases. Shoppers were asked about their own back-to-school shopping behaviors, as well as the shopping behaviors of their children. Survey respondents represented even distribution across gender and representative sampling across age groups.
About Market Track
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Market Track is the leading provider of subscription-based advertising and pricing intelligence solutions in North America. Through monitoring trade and promotional advertising, pricing and e-commerce activity, brand protection and competitive advertising activity, Market Track provides the most comprehensive coverage of key media channels available. Offered via web-based software-as-a-service platforms, Market Track’s solutions enable advertisers, agencies, retailers, and manufacturers of consumer goods to efficiently monitor and analyze causal data, creative execution, and ad spending to maximize the value of their marketing campaigns. Clients use Market Track’s capabilities to determine how competing retailers, products and brands are being advertised, priced and promoted both in-store and online. The company’s granular creative assets and data cover nearly every retail trade class, product category and media channel. For more information, please visit, www.markettrack.com.
