Consumers Get All A’s in Back-to-School Spending, Retailers Amazon, Footlocker, Gap and Zappos ‘10 Winners
NEW YORK NY August 1 - The average 2010 spend consumers say they will make for back-to-school clothing and supplies is $584, up 10% over a year ago, according to a national survey conducted by Brand Keys, a New York-based brand and customerloyalty research consultancy.
“It appears that the combination of an improving economy, slightly increased consumer confidence, on-going discounting and promotional activity, and a real need for new clothing and supplies has increased back-to-school share-of-wallet by 10% this year,” said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys.
“For the past two years, the consumer’s view of the traditional 3R’s had been ‘retailer,’ ‘rates,’ and ‘requirements,’ with shoppers looking at back-to school-buying by evaluating which retailer was going to offer the best prices for things the kids really require,” said Passikoff. “But consumers have already earned their Ph.D.‘s in smart shopping, and this year ‘requirements’ have moved to the top of parents’ lists. Children continue to grow, whatever the economy’s like, and there’s an actual need to make up for the past two years of decreased spending.”
Methodology
The Brand Keys’ survey includes assessments from 10,000 households with school-aged children (pre-school through 12th grade), drawn from the nine US Census regions. Data was collected via telephone and central location intercepts, to account for cell-phone only households, in early July and found average-spends for major back-to-school categories, versus last year:
Clothing $315.00 (+13%)
Computers, software, printers $209.00 (+11%)
Shoes (athletic, dress) $120.00 (+12%)
Supplies $ 95.00 (unchanged)
Books and study aids $ 22.00 (+10%)
“Unlike other major purchase events like Mother’s Day there’s a more lopsided distribution in terms of which retailers will be the beneficiaries of consumers back-to-school shopping,” said Passikoff. “The biggest change was found iamong Specialty Clothing retailers, confirming both children s needs for new clothing and parents’ greater confidence in the economy.”
The breakdown of “preferred” retailer-types was as follows:
Discount Stores 95% (unchanged)
Department Stores 60% (+5%)
Office Supply 55% (unchanged)
Online 50% (+ 25%)
Specialty Retailers 45% (+15%)
Catalogs 35% (+5%)
When asked where they intended to shop, back-to-school beneficiaries among retailers included in Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Index were identified as follows. Please note that while these measures report multiple category responses, the top-10 retailers showing the greatest increase in consumer intent-to-shop since last year were:
- Amazon
- Bed, Bath, and Beyond
- Gap
- J. Crew
- Kohl s Footlocker
- Nike
- Staples
- Target
- TJ Maxx
- Zappos
Within their individual retail categories, here’s how retail brands fared:
Discount Retailers
Target 60% (+10%)
Wal-Mart 65% (-5%)
Kmart 35% (-5%)
Best Buy 20% (-10%)
Department Stores
Kohl’s 45% (+15%)
T.J. Maxx 50% (NA)
Macy’s 30% (-5%)
Dillard s 35% (-0-)
JCPenney 25% (-5%)
Sears 15% (-0-)
Office Supply
Staples 60% (+10%)
Office Max 35% (-0-)
Office Depot 35% (-0-)
Specialty Stores
Footlocker 55% (+10%)
Stride Rite 50% (+5%)
Old Navy 45% (-0-)
Sports Authority 40% (-0-)
Nike 50% (+10%)
Radio Shack 40% (-0-)
American Eagle 25% (-5%)
Bed, Bath, Beyond 45% (+10%)
Champs 30% (-0-)
PacSun 20% (-5%)
A&F 25% (+5%)
OshKosh B Gosh 20% (+5%)
GAP 25% (+15%)
On-Line
Amazon.com 90% (+10%)
Zappos.com 75% (+20%)
Staples.com 40% (-0-)
Apple 50% (+10%)
Dell.com 35% (-0-)
Overstock.com 20% (-0-)
Catalogs
J, Crew 65% (+5%)
L.L. Bean 45% (-0-)
Land’s End 35% (-0-)
“While the economy always impacts overall spend, given the ubiquity of merchandise range and pricing strategies, what brands get what piece of the academic pie is ultimately determined by what retail brands actually stand for, i.e., quality, selection, service, and the like. Brand aspects like those can become surrogates for added-value in today’s marketplace,” said Brand Keys’ Robert Passikoff. “And consumers believe that and act upon that fact, should be a fundamental lesson for all retailers.”