Inflation is higher than it's been in 40 years. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, consumer prices were up 9.1% in June. That increase was the largest 12-month increase since November 1981.
Retail sales have fallen 0.3% from April. However, in June, retail sales showed a 8.4% increase from June 2021 which shows that consumers are still spending money, but spending more of it on essentials like grocery store shopping.
According to a mid-June survey from JLL (JLL), back-to-school spending on average rose 5.4%. This is likely because parents still plan on buying their children the things they need for when they begin school despite rising inflation across the country. However, retail stores should be expecting customers to be pickier about choosing the cheapest stores with the most affordable options.
The survey also showed that parents spent an average of $322 per child on back-to-school shopping. This year, that number was $339. 65.1% of responders said they planned on spending less on supplies this year.
Challenges and Opportunities:
Schools are all back to in-person classes this year after covid shut schools down for the majority of 2020. Because schools are back in-person, parents need to buy their kids' school supplies, which typically means a good season for retailers are happy about that. On the other hand, inflation is impacting how much customers' buy.
Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) are usually the most visited stores when it's back-to-school shopping season. Despite inflation, they are still coming out on top as the picks for school supplies. According to placer.ai, Dollar General (DG), Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, (DLTR) and Five Below (FIVE) will also do well because these stores are already positioned to be cheaper.
Back-To-School Deals
Those looking to save should check out Target, which has school supplies starting at a quarter for things like crayons and glue sticks, notebooks starting at $.75, pencils for $0.50, and binders at $0.99.
Other sales include BOGO 25% off on select Paper Mate supplies like pens and pencils, school uniform pieces starting at $5, 20% off kids shoes, and 10% off Swiss Gear backpacks. Snacks like Lunchables are on sale for three for $5. Water bottles start at $6.99 and lunch boxes start at $5.
Target also has a teacher's registry list, which saves teachers 15% on select classroom supplies with the Target Circle rewards program where you pay with a Red Card.
Amazon (AMZN) is coming in hot for back-to-school deals as well, with up to $190 off HP Laptops and Chromebooks, sales on headphones, speakers, and up to 13% off on Amazon Basics supplies. You can also explore the site for items categorized into lists to make your shopping easier.
Amazon even partnered up with celebrities to create personalized favorite lists to shop through for school supplies. Celebrities include Mindy Kaling and Neil Patrick Harris.
Walmart makes it easy to spot the best deals, with a section titled "Supplies under $1" which has staple supply items like pencils and folders. There is even a section titled "Supplies from 15c" and other sections like "Tech from $10", "Backpacks from $15" and "Laptops from $98".
