Consumers Cutting Spending to Buy Back to School Items
Rising inflation has consumers cutting their spending to cover the cost of sending students back to school.
The National Retail Federation reports that 38 percent of consumers are cutting back in other spending areas to cover the cost of items. The top items on the lists of K-12 students include electronics and clothing. College students are spending money on electronics, dorm or apartment furnishing and apparel.
“Besides the winter holidays the back to school and college shopping season is one of the biggest for both consumers and retailers. K-12 and college shoppers will spend more per person on this season then do on mother’s day , father’s day and Valentine’s day combined,” said the Senior Director of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen.
Total back to school spending is expected to match 2021’s record high of $37 billion with families of children in elementary school through high school spending on average $864, $15 more than last year.
It’s also caused families to start shopping earlier according to the NRF.
“They do this because they want to spread out their budget and give themselves time to shop for sales and deals. We know this year with the impact of higher prices and inflation it’s even more important to consumers to give themselves more time to buy for back to school and college season,” said Cullen.
The NRF said you shouldn’t have problems finding items on your list as retailers brought in inventory earlier to counter supply chain issues. If you want to save money on back to school items Ohio’s Tax Free Weekend is coming up August 5-7.
