By Jonathan Baker As the summer winds down, purchases—and prices—are up for notebooks, backpacks, pencils, and other back-to-school items. How are parents and their children shopping and how can retailers accommodate them, particularly in 2025? Spending Less or More for School Supplies in 2025? Earlier this week, e-Marketer posted a question: True or false? The average US shopper will spend less than $300 during this year’s back-to-school shopping. The answer to this question, not surprisingly, is “false.” Citing findings from CNET and YouGov, the average amount of money predicted for spending on school supplies in 2025 is $328.68. Conversely, consumers will still spend less this year versus last year! Statistics from the 2025 Deloitte Back-to-School Survey predict a total of $30.9 billion for back-to-school purchases, which is down from the sum of $31.3 billion in 2024. Welcome to another sign of today’s economy. Consider… Impact of Tariffs Addressing the proverbial “elephant in the room,” the introduction of tariffs has influenced not only prices on merchandise but consumer shopping habits—which extends to back-to-school purchases. As noted in Fortune, 67 percent of families in the United States began purchasing school supplies in early July, in contrast to 55 percent in 2024. Complementing this trend of early school-related shopping is a greater understanding and appreciation of value… Virtue of Value Where back-to-school shopping is concerned, today’s consumers invest not only extra money but extra effort into researching the value of possible purchases. For example, they will double check to make sure a pricier tablet from one brand is worth the extra money than that of a less-expensive competitor’s tablet. Findings in National Retail Federation state that the importance of value has motivated college students and their parents to shop for more basic items at discount stores—which have become 5 percent more popular in 2025 because of the current economy. How have retailers responded? Setting Up for Selling School Supplies As expected, the approach to selling back-to-school items in tariff-dominated times is the same as in other kinds of stores. This means that value is as top-of-mind among retailers as it is to consumers. Early Sales In anticipation of consumer concerns over prices and product availability, retailers have stockpiled any overseas inventory with the hope that supplies will last as long as possible. Keeping in sync with the trend to plan ahead, these retailers promoted their back-to-school sales much earlier this year—and a consumers responded. (Review the percentage listed above of families who started shopping for school sooner than later: 67 percent this year versus 55 percent last year.) Price Freezing—and Matching Another strong point to attract attention—and sales—is price freezing, where shoppers may purchase school supplies in 2025 at 2024 prices. Complementing this is “price matching,” which offers shoppers the option to consolidate their purchases at a single store instead of spending extra time and energy to find better deals elsewhere. Assistance from AI Finally—and fitting for 2025—artificial intelligence (AI) has been actively utilized by retailers to help customers in the navigation of possible deals. As with price matching, this strategy saves consumers a lot of stress and strain in finding the best back-so-school bargains. School in Session As the school season begins within the next few weeks, the information above covers what may already be familiar territory. The back-to-school shopping season of 2025, however, should be viewed as an example of how purchasing and selling trends are taking shape among customers and merchants. Will the holiday shopping season, which will be here before we know it, be similar? Let the services provided by The EGC Group help you plan the most effective marketing strategies for the not-too-distant future. Fill out this “Let’s talk” form. We are ready to listen.
