Back to school shopping tips for parents
Use these technical tips to conquer returning to school and shopping.
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According to the National Retail Federation, shoppers returning to school are beginning to shop early, worrying about the economy and tariffs.
Shoppers are also pulling back some purchases to return to school.
“One way consumers know they respond to financial stress and uncertainty is for them to shop at major events, whether it’s a holiday or a very important back to school season,” said Catherine Cullen, NRF’s Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights during a media call on Wednesday.
It happened during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with shoppers uncertain about whether schools would return to in-person learning. He also had supply chain concerns in June 2021, and in 2022 there were concerns about inflation.
“The reasons why consumers start earlier are pretty consistent,” Karen said. “They do this because they want to avoid stress. They want to make sure they get the items in time, especially if they’re worried about things being in short stock.”
Consumers are exposed to financial stress
Mark Matthews, chief economist and executive director of NRF, said that while consumer sentiment remains at historic low levels, consumer finances and net worth remain close to record highs.
There is discretionary income growth and wages continue to outperform inflation, but unemployment rates remain historically low, Matthew said. There have also been reasonable job creation, but that has been held back in recent months, giving rise to concerns about where those numbers are heading, he said.
Matthew said that debt is also very high, but “it’s easy to manage from a service perspective, and low-income households are far more challenging in debt, but the entire economy is not widely seen.
The challenge for consumers is that households don’t have a huge savings buffer, unlike two or three years ago, he said. He said the bottom 80% of US households have been actively “saving” or spending more than discretionary income since 2022.
“Consumers don’t have that buffer to deal with higher prices, so it’s going to be a problem for consumers if they see revenues being challenged a little more in the face of price increases.
The full effect of tariffs should still come
The full impact of the tariffs has yet to be hit, Matthew said. There are some price increases in some categories, but not all, he said.
“I know that retailers are working hard, especially to keep their back touring items as low as possible,” he said.
Matthews also said historically that hikes in customs prices will take a long time for consumers to work.
“One reason is that many retailers’ shelves remain stocked with pre-duty imports. We know that retailers dramatically increased their imports earlier this year,” Matthews said.
He added that some retailers are “eating more tariffs than expected.” But Matthews said he’s worried because businesses absorb tariff costs rather than handing over to consumers, which could lead to reduced wages and employment.
Shopping back to school has already begun
Early school shopping has already begun and has increased in July. This year, 26% of school and university shoppers had begun browsing and purchasing by early June, according to an NRF survey that includes Prosper Insights & Analytics on the attitudes and expectations of consumers returning to school. That’s up from 22% last year and 17% in 2019. Shoppers often like to broaden their budgets and buy early to get early deals and promotions.
A big change happened in July, Karen said that when 57% of families shopping for grades and college students said they started shopping, they had changed. That’s up from 55% last year.
The big concern, according to shoppers, is tariffs. Three-quarters or 74% of those surveyed said they were shopping earlier this year.
“In June, people were a little more worried about their finances and decided, ‘Hey, maybe I’ll buy what I need and restock later that year,'” Karen said. “It’s going to be in July ‘No, things can be much more expensive in the second half of the season or later this year, so we’ll have to store stock and store it.”
Do shoppers expect to spend time back at school?
The average K-12 shopper budgets on average $858 per student, from an average $875 per student, while those who buy for college students this year are expected to spend $1,326 from last year’s $1,365, according to the NRF.
And while average spending is expected to decrease, total spending is expected to increase as shoppers prioritize essential categories, Karen said. Overall school spending is expected to reach $128 billion this year, up 2% from last year, she said.
Still, there are categories that shoppers will pull back. The biggest one is electronics, Karen said.
Karen may be spending on core school items such as laptops, tablets and even smartphones, but some shoppers say they are holding back accessories that seem discretionary, like headphones, speakers, or gaming consoles. They may be looking for a hand from their family, she said.
How do school shoppers spend differently?
Here are other highlights of the NRF call:
- The college’s shopping categories that are expected to grow include clothing and accessories, food, furniture, and gift/prepaid cards.
- Shoppers are switching between locations they shop and shopping, and they are focused on sales, Karen said.
- Shoppers across the income spectrum – households making less than $50,000 a year and earning more than $100,000 are significantly recoiling their spending. For K-12 shoppers, low-income families are expected to spend $613 per student, down from $706 last year, while high-income families are expected to spend $1,090 starting at $1,135. For college shopping, low-income families expect to spend $1,082 this year, starting from $1,242 last year, while high-income families hope to cut $1,572 from $1,766.
- There is a big change in the places where people shop. This is most pronounced among university shoppers where people are on the rise in shopping discount stores, with 36% going to those retailers compared to 31% last year, Cullen said. “This is especially true for high-income households, so we’re seeing consumers trade brands, buy more store brands and save money this year by receiving discounts on shopping,” she said.
- Gen Z Shoppers has also shopped before, but Cullen said this wasn’t driven by economic or tariff concerns, but rather that they’re trying not to overlook trending items. It’s a supply chain issue, but Gen Z Shoppers wants to secure trendy school supplies like backpacks before they sell out.
Sales tax holidays help you save money
Shoppers may save some money on shopping back to school if the state has a sales tax holiday. Seventeen states have designated certain items in July and August, where they can purchase tax-free.
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA Today. Contact her at blinfisher @usatoday.com or follow her on X, Facebook, or Instagram @Blinfisher, @Blinfisher.bsky.social.. Sign up for our free daily money newsletter. This includes Friday’s Consumer News.
