Products

EMARKETER delivers leading-edge research to clients in a variety of forms, including full-length reports and data visualizations to equip you with actionable takeaways for better business decisions.
PRO+
New data sets, deeper insights, and flexible data visualizations.
Learn More
Reports
In-depth analysis, benchmarks and shorter spotlights on digital trends.
Learn More
Forecasts
Interactive projections with 10k+ metrics on market trends, & consumer behavior.
Learn More
Charts
Proprietary data and over 3,000 third-party sources about the most important topics.
Learn More
Industry KPIs
Industry benchmarks for the most important KPIs in digital marketing, advertising, retail and ecommerce.
Learn More
Briefings
Client-only email newsletters with analysis and takeaways from the daily news.
Learn More
Analyst Access Program
Exclusive time with the thought leaders who craft our research.
Learn More

About EMARKETER

Our goal is to unlock digital opportunities for our clients with the world’s most trusted forecasts, analysis, and benchmarks. Spanning five core coverage areas and dozens of industries, our research on digital transformation is exhaustive.
Our Story
Learn more about our mission and how EMARKETER came to be.
Learn More
Methodology
Rigorous proprietary data vetting strips biases and produces superior insights.
Learn More
Our People
Take a look into our corporate culture and view our open roles.
Join the Team
Contact Us
Speak to a member of our team to learn more about EMARKETER.
Contact Us
Newsroom
See our latest press releases, news articles or download our press kit.
Learn More
Client Testimonials
Key decision-makers share why they find EMARKETER so critical.
Learn More
Advertising & Sponsorship Opportunities
Reach an engaged audience of decision-makers.
Learn More
Events
Browse our upcoming and past events, recent podcasts, and other featured resources.
Learn More
Podcasts
Tune in to EMARKETER's daily, weekly, and monthly podcasts.
Learn More

Back-to-school sales will rise 3.2% this year

The forecast: Back-to-school sales will rise 3.2% year over year (YoY) this year to $81.16 billion, according to our forecast. While that’s a slowdown from last year’s 7.2% gain, it is in line with historical norms.

Ecommerce’s lure: We expect ecommerce sales will account for 34.9% of those sales, or $28.34 billion. That’s a 1.4-percentage-point gain YoY and a massive 11.6-percentage-point leap from pre-pandemic 2019, with consumers steadily shifting more of their spending on back-to-school items online since 2021.

Our forecast dovetails with a JLL consumer survey that found roughly two-thirds (66.6%) of back-to-school customers will shop at an online retailer. However, all but 10.1% of consumers shopping for school supplies and other goods will interact with a store in some way.

  • Nearly a third (31.6%) of shoppers plan to buy an item online and pick it up curbside, a big jump from 20.0% last year.
  • It’s a similar story with click and collect, which 31.2% of consumers plan to use, up from 20.4% last year.

Back-to-school season creep: Just as the holiday shopping season has pulled up into October, and the Halloween buying season crept into June, the back-to-school is starting earlier every year.

  • One-third (33%) of US adults expected to begin back-to-school shopping by early July, per a March 2024 survey by LTK.
  • Another 36% expected to begin shopping in July, which isn’t surprising given the broad array of July sales events hosted by Amazon, Walmart, Kohl’s, and TikTok Shop.

The big takeaway: The average consumer expects to spend $475 on back-to-school shopping this year—a 21.8% jump over last year, per JLL.

  • Even so, they remain focused on value. The majority (57.0%) of shoppers will look for sales, coupons, and deals this year.
  • That share ticks up to 61.5% among consumers earning less than $50,000.

Retailers can’t afford to delay launching their back-to-school merchandising and promotions given the majority of shoppers aren’t wasting any time looking for deals.

  翻译: