How Businesses Can Get Ready for Back-To-School

When back-to-school days roll around, it’s a signal for many different types of businesses to gear up and tap into this large buying spree that happens every year. Brandtastic of Florida would like to share a little information about the scope of back-to-school shopping and some ideas on how you can get the most out of it for your business.

The statistics

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), more money will be spent during the 2022 back-to-school season than ever before. Projections are for students and parents to lay out $36.9 billion, with $864 spent per individual.

The above numbers are for public and private school students. For college students, NRF believes the spending will hit $73.9 billion in total and nearly $2,000 per individual.

In keeping with recent trends, the main back-to-school spending areas are expected to be:

• Electronics
• Clothing
• School supplies (non-electronics)

Where are they shopping?

Before the pandemic, students had spread out their back-to-school shopping. Post-pandemic, NRF predicts students will reduce their number of shopping destinations. The top five projected destinations are:

• Online 50%
• Department stores 45%
• Discount retailers 40%
• Clothing stores 37%
• Electronics stores 28%

What does this mean for you?

Maybe you don’t sell school supplies or electronic gadgets
or the latest teen fashions. This doesn’t mean you can’t take
advantage of the back-to-school shopping rush. If you do
sell items that high schoolers or college students need,
prepare early, devise some attractive specials and advertise
them heavily leading up to the return to school.

If you provide products and services that don’t exactly fit into the “back-to-school” category, you can still participate in this annual spending ritual. As long as you provide something that school-age individuals might use – even if it’s not directly school-related – promote it heavily with back-to-school specials to attract people in this market. (Remember, students buy more than just school-related products!)

Obviously, not every type of business can benefit from this strategy. It would be ridiculous for an obstetrician to offer “back-to-school exams.” However, a plastic surgeon might find a way to tap into the college market by promoting free consultations. Use your imagination and see how many ideas – as quirky and unusual as they might be – that you can come up with to get on the back-to-school bandwagon.

For online sellers

If your business does a lot of sales online and if you have a direct or indirect offering for back-to-schoolers, you should focus on driving traffic to your website during the back-to-school time frame.

Remember, about 50% of back-to-school shopping is expected to be online, and this figure will likely increase every year, pandemic or no pandemic. Make sure you’ve got your special sales pages and landing pages properly designed and optimized for the droves of school students (and parents) who will be scanning the Internet for the things they want to buy.

Get your online marketing in high gear

Brandastic helps businesses of all shapes and sizes compete powerfully in the online arena. We use proven search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) techniques that will help your company rank well in the popular search engines.

We can supercharge your back-to-school promotions, and we can empower everything you do online all year long. Speak with an SEO and online marketing expert today by calling (813) 441-0275. You can also reach out through our handy contact form.