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BACK TOSCHOOL2012CHEAT SHEET

2National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2012 Cheat Sheet

Table of Contents

NRF’s Top 10 Trends

Historical Trends

Where Does It Rank?

Where People Will Shop

What People Will Buy

Economic Impact

When Americans Will Start Shopping

Tweens and Teens Influence

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As soon as the final school bell rings each year parents begin to plan for the upcoming school year, much to their children’s chagrin. On the list this year, new backpacks, fall sweaters, footwear, electronics, dorm furnishings, food items and gift cards. Parents with children in grades K-12 are expected to spend an average of $688, compared to $603 in 2011. After asking their children to “make-do” with a lot of their school items last year, parents are left with little choice this year but to replenish their growing children’s back-to-school needs.

College families will spend $907, up from $808 last year. Combined spending for school and college will reach $83.8 billion. Digging deeper into the data, a few other interesting trends emerge. Here’s a look at the Top 10 Trends from this year’s back-to-school and college surveys:

NRF’s Top 10 TrendsBack-to-School and College

1. Economy still top of mind. 2. Refill, replenish, restock. 3. Online takes bigger piece of the pie. 4. The early birds are already shopping.5. Empty nests abound.6. Online shoppers set to spend more.7. Students (& parents) win with gift cards.8. Who says the catalog is dead? 9. Baby boom.10. Department stores trending up.

The economy is still top of mind for school shoppers – 8 in 10 say economy will impact their spending

National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2012 Cheat Sheet

4National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2012 Cheat Sheet

Where Does it Rank? Back-to-School/College’s piece of the consumer spending pie

Though technically not a consumer holiday, back to school and college is big business for retailers. Second only to the holiday season, the back-to-school shopping period, which begins in July and ends in early September, pumps billions into our nation’s economy each year. Consumers are expected to spend more than $83 billion on grade school and college items, more than Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day combined.

Back-to-School shopping

Christmas

$83.8billion

$470billion

Source: NRF consumer surveys conducted by BIGinsight, 2011-2012

A look back at NRF’s Back-to-School and College surveys finds a track full of peaks and valleys, with 2009 taking the biggest hit in terms of expected spending. With more families looking to replenish their children’s school and college needs, retailers will be aggressive with their promotions, aiming to attract both budget and value-focused shoppers.

Historical TrendsSpending levels tick up this year

Source: 2012 Back-to-School and Back-to-College Surveys conducted by BIGinsight, 8,509 respondents

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Where People Will ShopDiscount, department stores and online tops for shoppers

When it comes to where people will shop for school and college items this summer, the survey suggests families will shop around in order to get the best bang for their buck. Though more than two-thirds of back-to-school shoppers will visit a discount store at some point, the most in the survey’s 10-year history say they will shop at a department store for back-to-school items, aiming to take advantage of promotions

and savings offers on private labels and exclusive merchandise. Online retailers will see a significant portion of the traffic as well. Nearly 40 percent of Americans will use the Internet to shop for school items, up from 31 percent last year and nearly double the amount seen in 2007.

National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2012 Cheat Sheet

People who plan to shop at department stores for back-to-school items

Source: NRF 2012 Back-to-School survey, conducted by BIGinsight, 8,509 respondents

59.9%59.9%

6National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2012 Cheat Sheet

What People Will BuyApparel, electronics, supplies top shopping lists

From pencils and calculators to new sneakers and backpacks, parents’ shopping lists these days run the gamut. Apparel and accessories will command the highest portion of back-to-school shoppers’ budgets with the average person saying they will spend nearly $250 alone on denim, fall sweaters and accessories. College students and their families will spend more than $100 less than that on their apparel needs,

instead putting the bulk of their budget towards electronics – not surprising given how many students need their own laptop or tablet for the school year. Families with college-age students are also more likely to spend on items like food and gift cards and collegiate gear.

Source: NRF survey conducted by BIGinsight, July 2-9, 2012, 8,509 respondents Source: NRF survey conducted by BIGinsight, July 2-9, 2012, 8,509 respondents

Combined amount back-to-school and college families will spend on electronics.

$23 billion

High unemployment and a slowdown in the overall economic recovery are playing a role in how consumers say they will shop for back-to-school and college items this summer. According to the survey, 85 percent of people say they are adjusting their spending plans specifically because of the economy. Most notably people will comparison shop online and shop online more often overall, hoping to find free shipping deals and the best bargains around town and on the web.

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Economic ImpactConsumers’ Spending Plans

National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2012 Cheat Sheet

Source: NRF survey conducted by BIGinsight, July 2-9, 2012, 8,509 respondents

Back-to-school spending is not indicative of expected

holiday spending

Much to their chagrin, many children across the country start school and college as early as mid-to-late August. With that in mind, retailers typically launch their web and in-store promotional campaigns as early as the first week in July – immediately after leftover patriotic merchandise is cleared away.

This year, college and school shoppers are taking advantage of early promotions to spread out their spending, with the majority of parents and their children planning to hit stores three weeks to one month before school starts.

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When Americans Will Start ShoppingPlenty of early birds this year

National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2012 Cheat Sheet

Source: NRF survey conducted by BIGinsight, July 2-9, 2012, 8,509 respondents

Back-to-school shoppers who will shop at least one month before school starts.47.8%

9National Retail Federation | www.nrf.com Back-to-School 2012 Cheat Sheet

When it comes to back-to-school and college purchases, parents take many of their cues directly from their children, so department, electronic, office supply, drug and discount stores, as well as online retailers, make sure their web and in-store promotions are attractive to tweens, teens, young adults, and their parents, who will likely be the ones footing the bill. When it comes to how much say children have in their parents’ buying decisions, nearly three-quarters of parents say their children influence at least half of their back-to-school purchases. Talk about spending power.

Also, more kids this year are expected to spend more of their own money. Having been hindered by mom and dad’s desire and ability to dole out allowances in recent years, it seems the “allowance freeze” may have ended. Pre-teens will spend approximately $25 of their own money on school items, up from $15 last year. Teenagers will spend more than $36 of their own money, up from $31 last year.

Tweens and Teens InfluenceChildren chip in this year

Parents with children in grades K-12 who say their kids influence half of the back-to-

school items they buy

Average amount teenagers will pay out of pocket for

school items

Average amount pre-teens will spend on their own back-

to-school items

72.4%

$36.48

$25.63