What could you do with $573? According
to the majority of parents with school age children,
that’s about what they’ll spend to get
their children ready for the new school year.
Ipsos-Insight, a marketing research firm contracted
by Mastercard International has just released the
results of their second annual Back To School Spending
Index survey. According to the survey, a full third
(37%) of parents plan to spend more this year than
they did before. A smaller percentage (22%) plan to
increase their spending even more than that—$750.00.
Last year’s survey showed that most Americans
planned to spend an average of about $412 for their
back to school needs.
And planning they are.
A full 66 percent of those parents surveyed said
that they plan in advance for the yearly expenditure.
30 percent of those said that they have selected a
pre-determined time to shop for their children’s
back to school needs, 27 percent say that they will
wait for sales at their favorite stores, and 9 percent
say that they will shop on the tax-free day specified
by their state.
And just how will they pay for the school supplies?
A whopping 53 of those surveyed said that they planned
to pay with payment cards. (27 percent will use credit
cards, while 26 percent will use debit
cards.)
Parents expect that clothing will account for the
majority of their expenditures, but also plan to purchase
books, lunchboxes, office supplies and even larger
purchases such as laptop computers. They plan to buy
most of the items from discounters (86 percent) and
department stores (64 percent).
If you have to plan for this upcoming large expense,
experts say that the best time to make your purchases
is during the months of August and September. According
to the International Council of Shopping Centers,
retailers will offer targeted marketing and incentives
to back to school shoppers during these months and
the sale’s discounts will average between five
and six percent.
Financial experts tout the back to school season
as the perfect opportunity for parents to teach their
children about budgeting and spending, but find that
few parents take advantage of the opportunity, even
though most students accompany their parents on the
shopping trips.
