NRF: Parents to Rein in Back-to-School Spending

The National Retail Federation, which plans to release its complete back-to-school forecast this week, says its early analysis finds that parents are looking to spend more carefully this year, with a greater reliance on sales and coupons.

The survey, fielded by Prosper Insights & Analytics and based on some 6,800 parents, reports that 54% of families with kids in kindergarten through high school plan to spend about the same as they did last year. (That’s down a bit from 57% who said the same thing last year.) And 37% of those with college-bound kids say they plan to keep spending steady, up a tick or two from 35% last year.

Overall, they seem more intent on saving, with 28% vowing to use more coupons, 25% relying more heavily on ad circulars and newspapers for better deals, 30% saying they will shop for more sales, and 28% planning to buy more store brands.

A separate survey from the Rubicon Project says that many parents — 34% of those with children K through 12 and 49% of those with college kids — are shopping already. This survey, based on some 1,500 parents, reports a planned increase in spending, with 61% of parents saying they are budgeting more for this year’s shopping, with an average of $917 per child on average. (That rises to about $1,300 per freshmen, including tech purchases.)


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