Back to school shopping statistics for 2023 and what they mean for your retail operation.

Getting the family ready to go back to the classroom is virtually a rite of passage for today’s consumers. As a business owner, it is vital that you understand the most recent back-to-school (BTS) shopping behavior statistics to ensure that your store is ready for the rush.

Recent back-to-school shopping statistics.

One of the best ways to make predictions about what will happen this year when it comes to back-to-school shopping is to examine some of the trends we saw in 2022. According to Capital One, these were some of the most important.

• Americans spent a total of $110.8 billion in the fall of 2022 for back-to-school and back-to-college shopping.
• On average, back-to-school supplies for one K-12 child cost $661, with $263.63 of that amount allotted for clothing and accessories.
• The average back-to-school budget increased by 1.82% in 2022.
• For back-to-college shopping, the average household spent $1,199.43.
• From 2015 to 2022, spending for each child increased by 22.6% after adjusting for inflation. In real terms, this amount jumped by 52.3%.
• 41% of shoppers expect to split their shopping between online and in-person stores.
• 2% of consumers begin shopping in late May; 31% begin during the last three weeks of summer. 10% don’t get their shopping going until after classes begin. For the rest, shopping usually starts in late July or early August.

While this range of figures illustrates some fascinating facts about buyer behaviors, you might still be wondering how they will help you to enhance your sales this year. Below are some suggestions based on these statistics that can help you to get your creative and marketing juices flowing in plenty of time to capture that all-important back-to-school business.

Streamlined, flexible payments are key.

Whether you operate online, have a physical store, or both, finding the best retail payment processing is vital. This involves more than signing up with the first company you see online or always going with the cheapest. That’s because the company with whom you partner will do much more than provide you with a credit card terminal and mobile card readers. The modern point of sale tools they furnish can transform virtually every aspect of your business to prepare you for the busy sales season to come.

In addition to secure, fast processing of consumers’ payments, your POS also has the following capabilities.

• Inventory management. Keep track of each piece of merchandise from the time it arrives until it leaves in your customer’s hands or electronic shopping cart. Monitor supply counts, sending alerts when reordering needs to happen.
• Customer relationships. Harness database tools to store unique facts about customers such as buying history, contact details, and life milestones that you can use to personalize their experience and deepen their relationship with your brand. Launch a loyalty program that rewards repeat sales, and contact buyers regularly with information about sales and promotions targeted to them.
• Manage employees with scheduling and time clock features. Easily bring up customized data about each person’s performance in order to provide feedback and training.
• Create reports that facilitate sales forecasting and track staff performance, financial progress, inventory trends, and more.
• Integrate with accounting and other third-party software to streamline back-office operations.

When your store is running smoothly behind the scenes, you are perfectly positioned to set yourself up for sales success.

Keep consumer budgets in mind.

As we saw in the above statistics, people are spending a lot more on back-to-school supplies, yet inflation and other economic factors are still weighing heavily on many families. Cushion the blow by checking off the following.

• Offering products in bulk.
• Featuring money-saving bundles.
• Providing incentives like discounts or other rewards to encourage consumers to buy most of the items they need at your store.

While you cannot slash prices so low that you don’t make a profit, taking these actions will demonstrate to customers that you are aware of the current economic climate and want to help them as much as possible. This, in turn, will help to enrich your relationship and promote customer longevity.

Start early.

Procrastination is never a good quality, including in retail sales. Although many people won’t dive into their back-to-school product procurement until August, be ready for the early birds. Make a separate back-to-school landing page for your website, and set up some seasonal displays in your physical store.

Get the word out.

All of your hard work in preparing your store and website will be wasted if no one knows of your plans. Create a buzz on your social media pages, and inform your newsletter subscribers of your plans. For your physical store, create signage that directs customers toward featured products. You might even want to heighten the anticipation with a fun back-to-school drawing or contest.

Before you know it, summer will be on the wane. Don’t wait another minute to prepare for the shopping rush that is just around the corner. You’ll be glad you did.