Hello summer! While the official start to summer was yesterday, June 21st; when school is out it always kicks off the unofficial start of summer for many of us! Here, we just experienced the first full year of school being attended in-person/in-class since the pandemic!
Although I do think that each year, summer becomes shorter and shorter for our students. To be honest, we already have received the summer Reading list and the summer Math package for our daughter's preparation to enter her junior year of high school. Like many, we have learned back-to-school shopping lessons the hard way; so, we have already begun our school shopping for the fall to make sure we have more choices.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) shared the following back-to-school trends to continue to watch:
online shopping via smart phones still dominates;
Most of us browse and buy online using our smart phones and I do not see that changing. It is easy and convenient meaning we can shop wherever we are.
pre-pandemic high investment in technology due to online learning continues to decrease;
Schools and parents made huge investments to continue educating our kids during the pandemic, now that our kids are back to school full time technology investments will continue to decline; although, I would argue that online learning will continue to grow.
traditional back to school items will continue to grow by double digits;
Traditional back to school items include apparel, accessories and supplies and it is no surprise that in-person learning is driving these increases.
social media continues to influence back to school purchases.
And, last but not least social medial will continue to influence back to school purchases and I do not see that changing in the near future.
All of the trends above seem to make natural sense. While most of us our budget conscious when shopping; I believe that parents are a little looser with our money when it comes to spending for back to school items.
Are there ways you can help influence and take advantage of early back to school purchases of your brand and/or services?
Sonya Ruff Jarvis is a Business & Marketing Consultant; Content Creator & Connection-Maker; Thought Leader & Industry Expert and Book Author & Entrepreneur. Areas of expertise include: Retail; Marketing; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI); and Human Resources. Sonya has been a part of the B2B retail industry for more than 30 years. Interested in Sonya’s books? They can be found on Amazon or get an author autographed copy at www.jarvisconsultants.com.
Let’s talk about your next project and how Jarvis Consultants can support your initiatives; email sonya@jarvisconsultants.com.
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