Back-to-school spending by the numbers
‘Everyone is gearing up’ for a more normal year with kids in classrooms
Back-to-school shopping is set to be bigger than ever this year.
The back-to-school season in 2020 was marred with uncertainty. Most schools did not start the year with fulltime, in-person instruction because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, more schools are returning to the traditional classroom. That means new notebooks, folders and pencils. And replacing outgrown clothes and shoes.
The National Retail Federation forecasts that families will spend the most money ever back-to-school shopping this year.
Families with elementary through high school students will spend around $60 more than they did last year, according to NRF. Those families will spend, on average, $848.90 on school items.
“The pandemic forced parents and their school-aged children to quickly adapt to virtual learning, and they did it with an incredible amount of resolve and flexibility,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a news release. “We enter the new school year with plans to return to the classroom and retailers are prepared to help Americans find and purchase whatever they need to make this transition as seamless as possible.”
Total back-to-school spending for elementary through high school students is expected to reach $37.1 billion, according to NRF. It was $33.9 billion last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting supply chains. That could cause shortages and price increases. Inflation is also increasing prices.
“While we are unlikely to see apocalyptic shortages, the continued pressure on supply chains means that not all retailers will get an optimal amount of supply,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of consultancy GlobalData Retail. “What this means is consumers will have less choice, and some may not be able to get exactly what they want, especially towards the end of the backto-school season.”
More than half of all the families included in the survey started back-toschool shopping at the beginning of July.
Families will spend more in every category this year. Electronics and clothing are the biggest budget increases. Families will spend around $20 more on electronics and clothing this year compared to 2020, according to NRF. The most popular electronics purchases are laptops, calculators and tablets.
College students and their families will spend $141 more than last year, according to the survey. The average college student and family will spend $1,200.32 to return to campus this fall. Most of the increase is from spending more on electronics and dorm furnishings.
Back-to-college spending is expected to hit a record $71 billion this year, according to the survey. College students spent $67.7 billion in 2020.
The back-to-school spending survey was conducted by the retail trade organization NRF and market analytics firm Prosper Insights & Analytics at the beginning of July.
Retailers are expecting that people will shop for the whole family — not just students. Many parents who have been working from home during the pandemic will return to the office as kids head back into the classroom.
Menomonee Falls-based retailer Kohl’s Corp. has said it anticipates “more normal” sales during the 2021 back-to-school season.
“Everyone is gearing up for a return to a more normal year with kids heading back to school and adults beginning to socialize more with friends and families,” said Greg Revelle, Kohl’s chief marketing officer, in a news release.
The retailer said it experienced increased demand for boys and girls apparel this past spring as more students returned to the classroom.
Trends that accelerated during the pandemic like more casual clothing and curbside pickup will continue.
Lands’ End Inc. has said its school uniform sales have started to rebound and are at a faster pace than the company anticipated.
“School uniforms is also showing signs of recovery and we expect this business to normalize as schools reopen this fall,” said President and Chief Financial Officer James Gooch in the company’s latest earnings call.
The Dodgeville-based retailer raised its guidance for its next earnings report, in part because of school uniform sales, the company said in a July 20 news release. Its next fiscal quarter ends July 30.
“What we are hearing in the market is most of the schools are hoping to be back to in-person learning. So, assuming that they are back in schools with in-person learning, we expect that business to normalize this year.” Gooch said on the call.
Kelly Tyko of USA Today contributed to this report.
Here’s a look at some back-to-school spending numbers, according to the National Retail Federation and U.S. Census Bureau.
$848.90
Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend $848.90 on average for back-to-school items this season. That’s $59 more than last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
$295.65
Electronics is the largest chunk of back-to-school spending for families of elementary through high school students. The average family will spend $295.65 on electronics, $253.46 on clothing and $161.04 on shoes, according to the National Retail Federation.
$37.1 billion
Back-to-school spending is expected to hit a record high this year. Total backto-school spending will reach $37.1 billion, according to estimates from the National Retail Federation. Last year, around $33.9 billion was spent on backto-school shopping.
16.4%
Total retail spending in the first six months of 2021 was up 16.4% over last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
74.4%
The largest increase was sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores, where sales were up 74.4% over the first six months of last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We enter the new school year with plans to return to the classroom and retailers are prepared to help Americans find and purchase whatever they need to make this transition as seamless as possible.”
National Retail Federation