11 percent of parents plan to finish shopping after school started

The ‘Back-To-School Shopping: 2013 Trends’

shows that the 11 percent of parents in the US plan to finish shopping after school started. This late shopping habit might give a push to retailers before the Christmas sales peak.

The back-to-school shopping season is one of the largest and most important retail seasons; second only to Christmas in sales, as reminded in Placed last report, ‘Back-To-School Shopping: 2013 Trends’. The paper analyses how parents navigate the back-to-school retail landscape, providing analysis into shopping timelines, advertising preferences and smartphone usage.

According to Placed data, 11 percent of American parents planned to finish shopping after the start of school, which could bode well for retailers looking for an extra bump in sales after the official end of the back-to-school season, highlights the research.

However, Macy’s, Kmart, Target, and Sears noted that early bird shoppers are significantly more likely to visit than an average consumer.

The rise of the savvy shopper continues, as almost 2 in 5 parents planned to use their smartphone to compare prices while in a store, putting even more pressure on show rooming for many retailers.

Print ads were the most preferred source of receiving promotions and deals selected by 46.3 percent of respondents.

This report is based on a subset of more than 12,000 US survey smartphone respondents that have at least one child. These parents were surveyed during July 2013 to provide detailed insight into consumers’ shopping behaviours.