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Archive for the ‘Back-To-School’ Category

Survey Says: Consumers Are Approaching the Back-To-School Season Very Conservatively

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

By Susan Viamari, Editor, Times & Trends

With the first day of school only days away, parents are adopting new strategies to fulfill their annual back-to-school shopping needs, such as classroom materials, lunch supplies, and new clothes that will keep their children trendy. For students, everything is a necessity—from protractors to skinny jeans—but the economic reality is that back-to-school shoppers aren’t willing to break the bank.

What are these new strategies consumers are depending on to conserve their money? Economizing is a primary trend and is not just for lower-income families; it is being adopted by all. SymphonyIRI Group, Inc. has just completed new research titled, “SymphonyIRI Group Special Report: Back-to-School 2010,” which is filled with back-to-school research with several surprising conclusions, such as:

Among households earning $100,000 a year or more, 46 percent said they will begin or already have begun to shop at supercenters to purchase items at lower prices.
Fifty-eight percent of back-to-school shoppers have begun to buy items in bulk in order to save money
Fifty-seven percent say they are starting to purchase the on-sale items rather than their favorite brands
Forty-six percent of respondents report they are using the strategy of buying what they need on an as-needed basis

A surprising 40 percent of shoppers say that have begun re-using their school supplies from previous years. With all these people counting every penny, store brand items have moved to the top of consumers shopping lists. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said store brand products are equal to brand named products, proving to be a very good option for dollar-conscious customers. With 46 percent of back-to-school shoppers stating that they are financially worse off this year, it is obvious why these changes are taking place. Do consumers believe these new shopping strategies will become the norm for years to come?

A surprising 37 percent stated that they believe their financial situation will be better next year
Forty-four percent think that they will be in about the same place
A pessimistic 19 percent predict they will be worse off

Despite this, it is likely that shoppers will still lack the confidence to spend even if more money is presented to them. Like the households surveyed that make $100,000 or more a year, just because people have money these days does not mean they are willing to spend it. With this said, it is likely that bargain shopping will be here to stay.

Tags: Consumer Shopping, cpg, Marketing, SymphonyIRI group
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COMING SOON: Special Report on Back-to-School Trends

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Next week, SymphonyIRI Group will release a special report, titled “SymphonyIRI Group Special Report: Back-to-School 2010.” This new report will divulge consumer attitudes and spending based on research conducted in July 2010 and summarizes findings from 1,000 interviews reflecting a national representation of cross-sectioned American shoppers. Covering a wide variety of topics, some of what you will find in this upcoming research includes:

1. Shoppers keep their wallets and purses sealed
2. Trip strategies reflect ongoing frugality
3. Store brands continue to remain popular with shoppers of all income levels
4. Glimmers of optimism are emerging
5. In the store brands category, half of survey respondents note store brand lunch box components and school supplies provide better value versus national brands

The findings of this report will dive deep into how consumers are approaching the back-to-school season. The data also explains why and how CPG marketers can convey a consistent message of value across all marketing platforms.

Look for the full report available next week!

Tags: Back-To-School
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Savvy Consumers Go Back to Basics for Back to School

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

As the days of summer begin to wind down, consumers are turning their attention back to school. Last week, we offered a teaser of the “IRI Back to School Survey,” and today we’re excited to share with you the findings.

Last week, a similar survey was announced by the National Retail Foundation – you can read more about it here. Our findings mirror the NRF’s in many ways – consumers are cutting back and are employing budget-saving techniques like coupons and discount retailers. We want to dive a little deeper into our survey results, as well as discuss some of the different results between the two studies.

Consumers representing all income levels are scaling back their back to school spending habits this year and are applying the cost-cutting knowledge and strategies they’ve learned during this economic downturn to avoid spending large sums of money up-front for school gear.

Shoppers are becoming more selective in their purchases and are focusing on essentials, as 58% of consumers across all income levels are budgeting more and prioritizing purchases. For example, all income groups are budgeting for clothing, shoes, and school essentials like notebooks and writing utensils. However, even within these prioritized areas, shoppers are scaling back – 51% of consumers will limit the amount of clothing they buy this year. Even the upper income shoppers earning $100,000 per year plus are budgeting, as 46% plan on purchasing less clothing this year. Smaller accessories like lunchboxes, scissors, glue, and markers are falling to the wayside, with less consumers budgeting for these items.

One major change is moving from a mass back to school shopping trip to smaller trips throughout the year. 64% of all respondents are only buying a few essentials before school and are planning on buying additional, smaller items on an as-needed basis. 56% of shoppers will be re-using school items from last year, a major trend we saw throughout the survey. For example, 81% of consumers will be re-using clothing from last year. Of those families earning under $35,000 a year, 39% will be dressing their children in hand-me-downs from older siblings or relatives.

Consumers are also getting savvier as the recession wears on, and are re-examining how and where they shop. Consumers are continuing their coupon-cutting practices, with 57% planning on using coupons, and 60% basing their purchases off store ads or flyers. In fact, 62% of families earning between $55,000 and $99,000 will be using these cost-cutting methods, the most out of any income group surveyed. Additionally, shoppers are leaving behind more expensive retails like specialty stores and department stores to visit discount retailers. 42% of consumers will be visiting more supercenters, 45% are taking more trips to mass merchandisers, and 30% are making the dollar store a part of their back-to-school shopping itinerary.

What are some of the key differences between our survey and NRF’s? The most critical difference we’ve found is that even those consumers in the highest income brackets are cutting back, and that 100% of consumers are budgeting or scaling back somehow.

Additionally, our survey found that consumers are budgeting less than the NRF shows – shoppers across the board are budgeting less than $300 for their back-to-school purchases, while the NRF reports a little under $550. The NRF also reports an increase in electronics spending this back-to-school season, while our respondents put electronics and accessories towards the bottom of their shopping list.

Where consumers are shopping is another difference between the two surveys. While the NRF reports that nearly a quarter of consumers plan on shopping at drug stores for back-to-school, our research shows quite the opposite. Our findings report that 22% of consumers will actually shop at drug stores less for back-to-school, including 25% of shoppers with a minimum of $100,000 a year incomes.

Despite some differences in the survey findings, what are the key messages we can take away, and how can CPG manufacturers and retailers apply them for competitive advantage? The points are clear: consumers are continuing to cut back due to economic stressors and are using old and new methods to save money, such as hand-me-downs and couponing. With the increased popularity of couponing and positive shopper reception of store flyers and ads, retailers and manufacturers can engage in joint promotion to drive shopper traffic and offer more coupons to appeal to the budget-minded consumer.

We plan on continuing our tracking of how consumers are spending their money in the coming months, especially as the holidays begin to approach. We will continue to report back to you with our findings, and as always we welcome your comments and questions.

Take care,

Thom Blischok

Tags: Back-To-School
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Back to School 2009 – Gear up or cut back?

Monday, July 13th, 2009

We’re curious at IRI, as are many retailers, marketers and manufacturers, how consumers are planning to spend their hard-earned dollars for the Back-to-School season this year. In our continuing efforts to track the trends influencing consumer attitude and spending cycles often visible during common traditions like back-to-school, we’ve launched a survey to shed some light on the topic.

Later this week, we will release the survey findings that analyze back-to-school shopping strategies from 2008 versus 2009, as well as any new affordability strategies that have emerged during the past year. Specifically, we think it’s valuable to learn whether consumers are changing their strategies this year, and if so how and why? The survey results will come from more than 1,000 U.S. households with children and digs into whether consumers are going to gear up or cut some things out? How will they prioritize these decisions? Are parents able to purchase new wardrobes for the new school year or will other strategies come into play, such as consignment store shopping or using more hand-me-downs?

In addition learning how much consumers plan to spend, it will also be interesting to examine where they plan to spend. When shopping for supplies and clothes, what kind of store is most appealing right now? Supercenters, dollar stores, mass merchandisers? We’ll soon see.

The survey also takes a close look at consumers’ food purchasing behaviors. We’ll examine what parents think will work best for their wallets – prepared lunches or cafeteria cash?

Check back with us soon for a post on our findings and feel free to let us know if you have any questions, thoughts or ideas you’d like to share.

Take care,
Thom Blischok

Tags: Back-To-Schoo
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Archive for the ‘Back-To-School’ Category

Survey Says: Consumers Are Approaching the Back-To-School Season Very Conservatively

COMING SOON: Special Report on Back-to-School Trends

Savvy Consumers Go Back to Basics for Back to School

Back to School 2009 – Gear up or cut back?

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