Back-to-school in America: who’s shopping and what are they buying?

With each September comes a new academic year and a new back-to-school (BTS) shopping season. How do Americans shop for school supplies, and where are they buying them? 

There are a lot of back-to-school shoppers in America. More than one in four respondents (27%) said they’d participated in back-to-school shopping in the past year, evenly split between men (53%) and women (47%).

Of all back-to-school shoppers, most (65%) are parents of schoolchildren. Fewer (14%) are grandparents, and 15% have no children at all. Full- or part-time students themselves make up 6% of back-to-school shoppers.

Pencil, paper, shoes: What are Americans buying for the back-to-school season?  

Shopping for a fresh academic year isn’t cheap. Three fifths (58%) spent over $100 on their last BTS shop, with 25% spending over $200. What did they spend it on? Stationery is the most popular item on America’s shopping list, with 64% purchasing it last time around.

 Shoes (62%), notebooks (57%) and bags (56%) are not far behind. A quarter of shoppers (26%) bought electronic devices such as laptops or tablets.

Walmart rules the South, Amazon conquers Northeast

Back-to-school shopping in America is dominated by three big retailers, YouGov Profiles data suggests. Walmart is the most popular, with 58% of back-school shoppers buying there on their last shop. Amazon is nipping their heels with 52%, and Target is not too far behind with 41%. 

The next tier of retailers, led by Costco and Dollar Tree at 16%, attract less than a third as many back-to-school shoppers. 

The top three dominate across America, but there are significant regional differences in retail preference. Walmart is most popular in the South, where 65% of back-to-shoppers buy from Walmart. In the Northeast, Amazon has become the top retailer, edging out Walmart, 53% to 50%. 

There are even more dramatic differences among smaller retailers. Costco is much more popular in the West (23%) than in the rest of the country for BTS supplies.