Books & (A Little) Beauty: Back-to-School Spending

Info from the National Retail Federation’s annual survey related to back-to-school shipping shows that total spending for K-12 schools and college combined is projected to reach $82.8 billion, nearly as high as last year’s $83.6 billion.

“With the economy thriving thanks to tax reform and growing consumer confidence, we expect to see a very strong season,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “College spending is expected to be at its highest level ever, and back-to-school will be one of the three highest years on record. Whether shoppers buy now or wait until the last minute, retailers are ready with everything they need for a successful start of the school year.”

Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average $684.79 each, compared with last year’s $687.72 for a total of $27.5 billion. That’s the third-highest total in the history of the survey following a peak of $30.3 billion in 2012 and last year’s $29.5 billion.

According to the survey, back-to-school shoppers plan to spend the most on clothing (about $236), electronics, shoes and traditional classroom supplies such as notebooks, however, college shoppers plan to lay out some cash for personal care, too. According to the NRF data, college age shoppers will spend $78.70 on personal care items such as skin and hair care.

While that money is welcome, the number is down a bit from last year, according to NRF.

“College shoppers are prioritizing and increasing their spending budgets in essential categories including clothing, furnishings and shoes,” Mathews said. “However, categories such as personal care items, gift cards and food saw a dip this year. Although consumers will still spend on these categories, they may plan to make purchases as needed throughout the school year rather than stocking up for the entire semester.”

The survey, which was conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics from June 29-July 8, included 7,320 consumers who were asked about both back-to-school and back-to-college plans. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.