Back to school shopping - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

AUGUST 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2015, 6:55 AM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

At Ped-Agree Shoes in Wyckoff, owners Catherine Mattei and Luanne Rush were busy last week helping parents outfit their children with new shoes for school.

In Westwood, at the Ginger Kids clothing store, owner Sue Bahng said she loves back-to-school season. “This is when the kids come in with renewed eagerness for the fresh new year.”

But Ped-Agree Shoes, Ginger Kids and other retailers in North Jersey and around the country are seeing a shift in the rhythms of this annual ritual. A Labor Day that falls late this year, on Sept. 7, compared to Sept. 1 last year, and changing shopping habits are pushing a lot of back-to-school shopping into September, after kids are already back at school.

Retail research firm The NPD Group this summer admonished retailers that they need to rethink their marketing to respond to a changing back-to-school season. A survey by the firm showed that a majority of shoppers don’t get serious about back-to-school shopping until August, with much of the spending occurring in September and even October.

A look at where the money goes

$68 billion: Total Americans will spend on back-to-school and back-to-college purchases this year

$630: average amount parents will spend for children in Grades K-12

$217.82: Average amount for clothes, K-12

$197.24: Average amount for electronics, K-12

$117.56: Average amount for shoes, K-12

$97.74: Average amount for school supplies, K-12

$899: Average amount parents will spend on college students

$126: Average amount for dorm or college apartment furnishings

29%: Portion of parents who plan to spend more for back to school this year.

30%: Parents who waited to start shopping until one to two weeks before school starts

42%: Amount that average back-to-school spending has risen over the past 10 years

Source: National Retail Federation

“When so many consumers are planning to do their back-to-school shopping in the months not traditionally considered part of the season by retailers, it’s time to break with tradition and change the way we market and measure this shopping season,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for NPD, in reporting the findings.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/shopping-after-school-s-back-1.1400855

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