According to a study conducted by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation (NRF), the 2007 back-to-school season is shaping up to be a good one as consumers expect to spend nearly seven percent more than last year.
Retailers, many that have watched sales soften in recent months, are looking to the back-to-school period as a means to make up some lost ground.
Wal-Mart, for one, has developed a back-to-school ad campaign emphasizing its low prices and how they help during a period when consumers are paying higher prices at places such as the gas pump. The chain announced it had rolled back prices between 10 percent and 50 percent on 16,000 items for back-to-school.
"We mean business when it comes to price leadership," said Bill Simon, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Wal-Mart Stores, U.S. in a press release.
According to the NRF, Wal-Mart begins its campaign in a year when consumers are showing more of a willingness to look beyond mass to fill out their back-to-school shopping lists. The number of consumers planning to shop at mass merchandisers is down to 67.6 percent this year compared to 72.2 percent in 2006.
All other channels, based on the NRF's survey, should expect to see more shoppers this year than last. Office supply stores (41.4 percent vs. 35.8 percent) look as though they will be the big winner while drugstores, department stores and specialty outlets may make more modest gains.
Staples is making a concerted effort to grow back-to-school sales.
Jevin Eagle, executive vice president of merchandising at Staples, said in a press release earlier this month, "We track the trends and talk to teens. This year, we paired focus group research with the latest fashion trends from Europe, resulting in our widest selection of back-to-school items ever. We know that teens know how to organize, so we wanted to offer them the coolest new colors, patterns and products that will help them personalize their back-to-school gear in a whole new way."
On the product front, clothing (excluding footwear) will top many back-to-school shopping lists with 95.4 percent indicating they expect to buy apparel items. While many will shop the category, the survey indicates that consumers are not looking to spend much more this year ($231.80) than last ($228.14).
Three categories that are expected to see solid growth compared to last year are consumer electronics (up 13 percent), footwear (up 10.3 percent) and school supplies (up nine percent).
Discussion Questions: What do you make of the competitive landscape for this year's back-to-school season? Why, assuming it is true, are consumers showing a willingness to shop other channels other than mass for back-to-school? Will Wal-Mart's price cutting campaign swing sales back its way?
- Back-to-School Spending This Year to Top $18 Billion - National Retail Federation (NRF)
- Wal-Mart Invigorates Price Message in New Ads as it Launches Aggressive Program to Save Shoppers More - Wal-Mart Stores
- Staples Makes It Easy To Be Totally Organized AND Totally Fashionable This School Year - Staples, Inc./Business Wire
- Discounters lure in school supply buyers - Sacramento Bee