Gearing Up For Back-to-School Season: 5 Tips to Increase Revenue
Back-to-school season is the second biggest shopping season of the year – both for e-commerce as well as retail. The only season that doesn’t beat back-to-school is the Christmas and Holiday season. The average back-to-school shopper spends more per household (estimated $510 per child) than the average shopper spends on Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day COMBINED!
Pretty amazing, right? That’s why we thought it’s the perfect opportunity to delve a little deeper into Deloitte’s recent 2018 Back-to-School Survey. The report closely examines the shopping habits of 1,200 parents of school-aged kids (in grades K-12). Let’s take a look at major insights you can use to win the back-to-school season!
#1 Pull Out Your Best Promotions
Parents will be spending about $510 per child this year. Pull out all the stops to make the most of the season. Use your most effective promotions and incentives on these big spenders. Back-to-school shoppers tend to love the hassle-free convenience of free shipping. It’s also the perfect time for that once-a-year BOGO (Buy One, Get One) that makes your products irresistible to shoppers! Added Benefit: having these valuable customers make a purchase will keep your store fresh in their mind for the holiday season!
#2 Don’t Ignore Mobile
More back-to-school shoppers are going mobile. In 2018, 49% of shoppers will use a desktop computer to purchase school goods, down from 57% in 2017. Conversely, the number of mobile shoppers is rising year-over-year, with 53% of shoppers planning to use their mobile phones to make purchases in 2018 vs. only 49% of shoppers in 2017. If you’ve been waiting to gear up for mobile e-commerce, now’s the time to kick your mobile presence into high gear! Don’t forget to increase your mobile bid modifiers in your paid search campaigns and test your mobile landing page experience to make sure the customer can easily find what they are looking for.
#3 Get the Timing Right
Parents spend more than 50% of the entire school-related budget for the whole year within the back-to-school season. Don’t let shoppers who will be spending half their budget within a small window of time slip through your fingers. Build urgency into your offers to make the most of the season. Then plan to take a final run at late shoppers who might have been late to make purchases. Let them know there’s not much time left!
#4 Back-to-School Means It’s Computer Buying Season
Back-to-school used to mean buying new clothes, some pencils and notebooks. For today’s students, heading back-to-school in the fall means having a new computer for their schoolwork. 23% of shoppers with school-aged kids plan to buy a computer or other hardware device. The average spend for these shoppers was $299. That’s great to know for computer manufacturers. It’s also important for sellers of laptop cases, computer backpacks, and all the essential accessories that go along with computers.
#5 Pens, Pencils, Plus So Much More
According to Deloitte, more than $27.6 billion will be spent in 29 Million households on 54 million children in 2018. The biggest categories for these back-to-school shoppers are school supplies, but there are a number of related important items they’ll be buying. They’re also looking for apparel, sporting goods, electronics, books, music, plus other related items. The key here is looking broadly enough at what back-to-school shoppers want and thinking about it from their point of view. Yes, that’s notebooks and pencils. But it’s so much more!