Convenience Reigns Supreme During Back-to-School

Earlier this week, we looked at the channels customers are shopping to check off their back-to-school lists and when they’re making these purchases. But which retail categories are bringing in the most shoppers?

Convenience Reigns Supreme During Back-to-School

Retailers that carry multiple items on shoppers’ lists are winning the battle for back-to-school. Last year, multiline retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target accounted for nearly 75% of all back-to-school spend, and their share is growing. Multiline was also the only category to increase their share of back-to-school spend year-over-year. That said, customers were still willing to make specialty trips for categories like apparel.

Also of note, multiline Brick & Mortar retailers saw spend at their online stores grow faster than their Online-Only counterparts—driven by an increase in total customers and more frequent purchases. This helped offset a flat back-to-school season at their physical stores.

Actionable Tip:

In order to protect their share, vertical retailers must give customers a reason to make the specialized trip. Consider offering sales on your exclusive brands or products and highlighting them in any promotional materials.

Want more Back-to-School Insights?

Check out more key spend trends based on our analysis of $2.4 trillion in purchase data across our banking partners and stay tuned for more back-to-school blog posts next week. On Tuesday, we’ll dig deeper into spend trend #4: Omni-Shoppers Drive Incremental Value During Back-to-School.