College students around the country are wrapping up summer jobs and vacations in preparation for heading back to campus. In NRF’s back-to college (BTC) survey conducted by BIGinsight in early August, one in 5 college-bound students and their families still had up to half of their shopping left to do.
Here’s a look at some of the other results:
- One-third of back-to-college online shoppers plan to make at least one online purchase before checking off those last items on their list. Approximately half of online BTC shoppers will visit department stores and clothing and discount stores before it’s all said and done.
- One-fifth of online BTC shoppers had completed between a quarter and half of their BTC shopping – while another fifth had yet to start shopping at all.
- When it comes to top media influences, shoppers rated coupons supreme, followed by in-store promotions, word of mouth, ad inserts and online ads. Email advertising has influenced one in 3 online BTC shoppers, while social media such as Facebook and Twitter plays a role for one in 5 shoppers, both up somewhat from last year.
- Mobile continues to grow in importance. Almost 14% of online BTC shoppers note that mobile devices influence where they shop (up from 9.9% in 2011), while one in 10 cite text messaging and video on mobile devices (up from 6.6% and 4.1%, respectively, last year).
At this stage, the window for BTC shopping is rapidly closing. Given high mobile penetration by this tech-savvy crowd, retailers may want to focus on mobile-centric advertising with offers, ideas and information. For example, as a precursor to the holiday season, this may be a great opportunity to test text message advertising for retailers who have proactively developed opt-in text lists. An August 1 feature in the Wall Street Journal notes the experience of some youth brands such as Charlotte Russe, Vans and Claire’s Boutique in connecting with teens who are more likely to text than email.
Check out the full results of this survey for a complete look at the data. For additional insights into recent Back to College shopping trends, please see also the Back to College 2012 Update from MRY in the Shop.org White Paper Library.