By Christine Kern, contributing writer
While digital sales have seen robust growth, shoppers still prefer brick-and-mortar stores to make their final purchases, and back-to-school shoppers are no different. Physical stores will win a vast majority (85%) of shoppers for their back-to-school purchases this year, according to a survey from research firm Market Track, findings that are in line with other research showing that almost all consumers prefer to shop in physical stores. And eMarketer found that shoppers spent 6 percent of total retail dollars (including spending on gas and automobiles) online during the back-to-school season in 2014, compared to 9 percent online during the holiday shopping season.
The nationwide survey of 1,000 consumers responsible for back-to-school shopping found that 63 percent of shoppers have yet to complete their back-to-school shopping, with the majority saying they are holding out for late season deals. And almost 9 out of 10 shoppers (87 percent) said that they would make a trip to retailers specifically for back-to-school items.
And big box stores will be the winners of the fight for back-to-school shoppers, with 64 percent of parents and 56 percent of students reporting that they plan to make the majority of their purchases at stores like Walmart, Target, or Kmart.
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 percent of shoppers indicated that they intend to spend the same or more than last year.
Still, when it comes to marketing, Market Track’s survey revealed that many shoppers, and their kids, do a lot of their pre-purchase research on products on the web before they head to stores. That means that web-based marketing and advertisements may be key, even though shoppers are ultimately heading to retailers to buy. While three-quarters of parents and 43 percent of kids look a print circulars for back-to-school shopping prep, 30 percent of kids use retail websites and 21 percent use social media to see what is on sale.
“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,” Market Track marketing VP Traci Gregorski said in a statement.
“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.”
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