Parents step up back-to-school budgets by 17.3%

The moment children pack away school supplies and begin summer vacation, parents are already preparing for the next academic year. These days, many parents don't even wait for summer to fully arrive before beginning their preparations. With the final school bell barely faded, they're already strategizing purchases, hunting for deals, and acquiring supplies for the upcoming year. This increasingly early start to back-to-school shopping has become the new normal, with parents eager to spread costs and secure needed items months before their children return to classrooms.

In this report, we look at how parents plan to shop for the upcoming school year and how this shopping process evolves from year to year. We surveyed 1,010 parents online in May. Just like the lists, some things don’t change: the Big 3 – Walmart, Amazon & Target – retain their top spots as back-to-school shopping destinations. But there are notable differences among parents in when and how they shop, and how much they plan to spend. Read on to discover our key insights into the upcoming shopping season.

Parents up their budgets despite inflation speculation

While admitting that inflation will impact their Back-to-School shopping strategies, parents still plan to bump up their back-to-school budgets this year. This is consistent with previous back-to-school surveys, where parents typically boost their budgets to account for changing needs and higher prices.

This year, parents plan to spend 17.3% more on back-to-school shopping, considerably more than the current year-over-year inflation rate of 2.4%.

What’s more, parents in every major income bracket plan to spend more than they did last year, with wealthier households (those earning over $150,0000) upping their budgets the most, by 27%.

Older parents between 45 and 60 years old (primarily Gen Xers) will spend the most on average, at $470 per child – 21.7% above the average budget for this year. Part of the reason for this could be that they have older children to shop for; parents shopping for high school and college students will spend roughly 30% more than those who are only shopping for younger kids.

Those who plan to spend 60% or more of their budgets on discretionary items will spend over 50% more on average than those who plan to stick to necessities.

Nearly two-thirds of parents say inflation will impact shopping

While the current CPI growth rate has slowed to a 2.4% from year-ago levels, prices of consumer goods are still significantly higher than they were just a few years ago. Most parents agree that inflation will continue to have some impact on their shopping. One-third of parents totally agree that they will adjust their back-to-school shopping plans because of higher prices, and another 31% somewhat agree. Less than 20% of parents felt that inflation would not significantly impact their shopping.

Interestingly, high-income shoppers (earning over $150,000) were the most likely to agree (at 70.4%) that inflation will impact their shopping plans. Parents 45 – 60 years of age were also more likely to say that higher prices would be a factor in their shopping.

Parents who were concerned about inflation (somewhat or totally agree that inflation would impact spending) were more likely to use cost-saving measures especially reusing existing school supplies.

Higher-income shoppers pull back on discretionary spending

Although high-income parents plan to up their average spending to more than $600 per child this year, many plan to cut back on discretionary purchases. The share of high-income shoppers’ spending on discretionary items fell from 70.9% last year to 63.8%.

Nearly 60% of back-to-school budgets will be spent on discretionary products – slightly less than in 2024. Gen X parents (45 – 60 years) were more likely to spend a larger portion of their budgets on discretionary goods. Parents who will shop at stores they genuinely enjoy also plan to engage in more discretionary purchases.

More than 92% of parents will use some cost-cutting method

Almost all parents will try to save money in some way during back-to-school shopping. The most prevalent way is through shopping sales, using coupons and seeking deals. Half of shoppers will also buy fewer products and one-third will reuse existing school supplies.

Parents will also use multiple methods to save money. In fact, one-third of shoppers will use three or more cost-saving methods when back to school shopping.

Younger parents (18-29) were notably more likely than older parents to buy secondhand products, while older parents – primarily Gen X and Boomers – were more likely to buy fewer items and focus on necessities.

More than half of parents are concerned about product availability

More than 56% of parents are concerned about back-to-school products being available when they shop. Less than one-quarter were not concerned.

High-income shoppers tended to be more concerned about the availability of products on their lists. Older parents, too were more likely to worry about scarcity.

Parents who plan to do at least some of their shopping at malls were much more likely to worry – fully 75% were slightly or very concerned about product availability. Least likely to be concerned were those ordering directly through the schools.

Inventory concerns push parents to shop earlier

Parents have begun shopping even earlier to make sure they can fully cross off their back-to-school lists. The largest portion of parents have already begun shopping before June. July is the next most popular month.

This year, we’ve seen a huge jump in starting back-to-school shopping before June. Nearly 45% of parents have either finished shopping or started before June – a 12-percentage-point increase from 2024. This is a direct result of concerns over possible inventory shortages.

64.4% of parents who say they are very concerned about product availability either started or finished shopping before June.

High-income shoppers, who were on average more worried about scarcity, were also more likely to start shopping early. The same is true of older shoppers, particularly Boomers – 65.4% of whom started shopping before June.

Parents shift away from delivery toward more physical shopping

Cross-channel shopping remains prominent with parents, with nearly one-third of parents shopping via three or more channels.

While delivery remains popular, fewer parents are using it this year compared to previous ones. Conversely, the popularity of malls and open-air centers has grown. Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup decreased in popularity from last year. Malls continue to be significantly more popular with high-income shoppers.

More than 90% of parents shopping for Back-to-School will interact with stores in some way. Only 9.2% will exclusively shop online.

Parents focus on fewer stores

The sweet spot for Back-to-School shopping is 2-3 retailers, which was the choice of 46.6% of the parents in our survey.

Around 14% of parents will try to get it all done at one store or online retailer.

High-income shoppers were notably more likely to shop at 4 or more stores. More than 85% of Boomers will stick to 3 or fewer retailers.

Parents want low prices and free shipping

More than 70% of parents listed the ability to save money as the top factor they use in choosing where they shop for back-to-school. Free shipping came in second at 55.5%. Many parents use multiple factors to help them decide, with nearly half choosing 3 or more factors.

Parents with high incomes were more likely than other income brackets to value the ability to get items right away, use curbside pickup, and choose an enjoyable shopping experience.

Mass merchandisers draw the masses

Mass merchandisers like Walmart and Target increased their popularity by almost 10 percentage points this year as parents do all they can to stretch their dollars. Parents who plan to shop at mass merchandisers tend to prioritize saving money and having a one-stop shop experience. In fact, 11.3% of parents will shop at mass merchandisers exclusively – considerably more than any other store type.

Parents with elementary school kids are relatively more likely to shop at mass merchandisers than other grade levels. Parents of middle-schoolers were more likely to shop online. High school parents were more likely to shop at sporting goods stores and apparel stores. Parents with college kids were more likely to shop at office supplies retailers, department stores and electronics stores.

Modest income parents (earning less than $50,000) will shop relatively more at dollar stores and thrift stores. Nonetheless, high-income shoppers will also shop more at these retailers than they did last year. High-income parents are also relatively more likely than other groups to shop at single-category stores like apparel, electronics, sporting goods and home goods stores. They were also more likely to shop at wholesale clubs and department stores.

Walmart holds #1 spot for BTS shoppers

Not only did Walmart, Amazon and Target keep their relative top three spots, but more parents plan to shop at these mass merchandisers than last year. The portion of parents listing Walmart as one of their top 3 destinations jumped eight percentage points from 2024; Amazon’s popularity zoomed up 11 percentage points, and Target’s rose 10 percentage points. All the other retailers among the top 10 saw increases over last year, especially Sam’s Club where more than twice the portion of parents listed them as a top destination compared to last year.

• Parents plan to up their shopping budgets but still want to get the most bang for their buck. Landlords and retailers should offer sales and promotions to draw shoppers to centers and stores.
• Since parents are shopping considerably earlier, promoting back-to-school products and deals early may be profitable.
• Even high-income parents will look to save money this year, including by buying less expensive versions of the products their kids need or secondhand. Retailers can respond by promoting store-brand or less premium products.
• Parents who plan to incorporate buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) plan to spend 27.7% more than the average. Offering quick and easy pick-up options and promoting back-to-school items close to the pick-up locations is key.

How parents shop for back-to-school varies by income

Moms more likely to…

• Plan to spend less
• Reuse school products and buy less expensive brands
• Shop in July and August
• Be less concerned about inflation and inventory
• Shop at mass merchandisers, apparel, thrift and dollar stores
• Shop at 1-3 retailers

Dads more likely to…

• Start shopping early
• Spend more on average
• Shop at bricks-and-mortar store and use curbside pickup
• Prioritize free delivery and ability to get items right away
• Shop at 4 or more retailers
• Spend more on discretionary purchases
• Shop at office supplies, department stores and electronics stores