Report: Back-to-school CE Spending to Decline

1 Aug, 2011 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Four out of five college shoppers say economy impacting spending, according to survey

The words “back to school” no longer just resonate dread among children. Consumer electronics retailers can expect to sell parents of college-aged and high school students fewer laptops, tablet computers, cell phones and MP3 players during the next several weeks, according to a new report.

Though average spending on CE is expected to increase slightly to $189.51 per household, just 51.9% of families with school-aged children plan to purchase electronics this year, down from last year’s all-time high of 63.7%.

BIGresearch conducted the poll of 8,684 consumers from July 1 to 6 for the National Retail Foundation.

Nearly 84% of respondents said the economy will impact their spending plans. More shoppers than last year will purchase store brand or generic products (38% versus 34.1% in 2010), and more will comparison-shop online (30.7% versus 23.2% in 2010).

Additionally, many shoppers are making do with last year’s items (29.7%) and spending less overall (44.6%).

“College students and their parents, who are likely also spending thousands of dollars on tuition, will be looking for ways to stretch their budgets and find good deals this year,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. “To compensate, retailers will spread out their promotions to capture the attention of shoppers whenever they’re in the mood to spend, and will use every resource they can to prominently promote everything from bedding to mini refrigerators and, of course, laptops and smartphones.”

The survey found 45.8% of students and their parents will buy electronics, the lowest level since 2005. However, electronics will still take up the largest portion of shoppers’ budgets with the average person expected to shell out $209.93 — an 11% decrease over last year’s $236.94. Freshmen will spend the most on electronics ($281.94 on average).

“Young adults are often the first in line to buy the latest tablet device, smartphone or mp3 player, so many college students are already armed with the latest gadgets they’ll bring with them to campus,” said Pam Goodfellow, consumer insights director, BIGresearch. “A decline in electronics spending could also be due to the fact that many popular college items, like laptops, have experienced huge drops in price over the last several years.”
 

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