For more consumers, back-to-school shopping starts now

Dive Brief:

The share of parents beginning their back-to-school shopping in June has nearly doubled from 11% last year to 20% this year, according to a TeacherLists survey of 1,200 parents or guardians of K–12 students.
Nearly two-thirds of parents consider this year’s back-to-school shopping to be “financially challenging” or “stressful.” Some consumers describe the process as “fun” or “necessary,” but the emotional toll is growing, per TeacherLists’ findings. 
Families are expected to spend about $41 billion on their back-to-school shopping. 

Dive Insight:

The start of the back-to-school shopping season has been inching backward in recent years. While July and August still remain the most popular months per TeacherLists, early summer has increasingly become important for the season. Last year, almost a quarter (22.1%) of respondents to a JLL survey said they had begun back-to-school shopping in June. 

TeacherList attributes this year’s early shopping trend to anxiety surrounding price hikes and potential product shortages. 

As President Donald Trump has implemented — and in some cases temporarily backed off — tariffs, shoppers have braced for a financial pinch. Consumer sentiment surveys from the University of Michigan released in March and April revealed that the public’s expectations for high inflation haven’t risen as fast since the 1990s. 

“Consumers perceived risks to multiple aspects of the economy, in large part due to ongoing uncertainty around trade policy and the potential for a resurgence of inflation looming ahead,” Joanne Hsu, director of the university’s consumer surveys, said in a statement regarding the April survey. 

Some major retailers have already announced their plans to pass cost increases onto consumers. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon recently confirmed that the company will charge higher prices in some cases in response to tariff increases. 

Walmart has been a popular retailer for back-to-school shopping, with nearly 50% of respondents to JLL’s survey last year indicating they planned to shop the most with the retailer for the season.