Back-to-school shopping could reach nearly $33B: Deloitte

As consumers become increasingly optimistic about the economy, 40% of parents expect to spend more this year, according to the report.

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Despite an unpredictable back-to-school environment, overall back-to-school spending is expected to increase by 16% year-over-year to $32.5 billion for K-12 students, according to Deloitte's Back-to-School survey emailed to Retail Dive. This year, parents plan to spend an average of $612 on average per child, the survey found.

Compared to last year, 40% of parents expect to spend more on back-to-school items in 2021. Among the top three places consumers will spend the most on school purchases are mass merchant stores (48%), online-only stores (15%) and dollar stores (5%), per the survey findings.

Remote learning has catalyzed sales growth in electronics. Among survey respondents, 31% said they plan to buy computers and hardware, up from 22% in 2020. Plus, 37% anticipate purchasing electronic gadgets, compared to 24% in 2020.

This news brief is based on reporting published by Retail Dive on 2021-07-09. The original report is linked below.