Back To School Campaign 2016 – Shopping Trends And Predictions
Reports suggest that customers will be spending more on their back to school buys compared to 2015. Back to school (BTS) season accounts for the second biggest shopping event of the year- next only to Christmas-. According to the National Retail Federation, back to school spending from K-12 to college will hit an impressive $75.8 billion mark as against $68 billion last year thanks to the economy, which is in a better shape than in previous years.
US schools will be open in September and for retailers it makes a busy time to ramp up their back to school marketing campaigns.
Here are some of the likely shopping trends of customer during 2016 BTS season.
2016 WILL SEE CONSUMERS SPENDING MORE
According to NRF’s data, 2016 is expected to be a “stock up” cycle for back to school consumers, which shows an annual alternating pattern of more spending ( stock up) and less spending ( make do). This is a good news for retailers as they can expect more footfalls and sales in their stores.
MOST CONSUMERS WILL SHOP AT DISCOUNTS STORES.
NRF Reports suggest that more families will be shopping at discount stores this year, which is followed by department and clothing stores.
ONLINE SHOPPING AND MOBILE SHOPPING WILL BE POPULAR
Online shopping is all set to register a dramatic 30% surge over last year. With more sops like free shipping and in store pick up, online shopping has got better than never before. Better deals and offers will surely be the calling card for online retailers this season as customers will be looking for the best value for their money.
Mobile shopping is also likely to be on the rise this season. A study from The Rubicon Project says that 60% of parents surveyed are “planning to use mobile devices for some back to school shopping”.
FAMILIES MAY CHOOSE TO SHOP EARLIER
The NRF’s survey says that a substantial fraction of 73% of customers is planning to shop a month or two before the school starts. So, if you are yet to come up with your BTS campaign plan, you have little time to catch up. Hurry up!
Now for some smart tips to boost up your Back School Marketing campaign
Having the best and the most trending promotional items or an attractive store window display alone will not help you to get the biggest share of customer pie and surge ahead in the heavily competitive BTS campaign.
Show how your products fit into your customer’s school lives.
A smart way will be to show how people can use your products in school. Bundle up school essentials like pens, notepads and bags to give them concrete ideas to employ your products in their school lives. If you cannot arrange for a display in stores, you can even use the images of your products against school settings to make a mock up display. Just think how your BTS products will fit into the customers’ lives and plan your promotions from that angle.
Unveil the hottest trends.
Parents spend a substantial amount of their family budget to buy school supplies and look for the best and the most trending items for their kids. An easy way to stay on top of the top trends will be to see what’s new at Google trends or Google’s Shopping Insights tool.
Get the kids involved in your campaigns
Back to school is all about kids, so you can get them involved in this branding exercise. From writing scripts for the ad, making props or starring in the commercials, kids can literally change your BTS campaigns on its head!
Come up with a BTS theme for your online site
Attract more shoppers to your site by adding a BTS banner or adding an exclusive category of products for the back to school season, which will ensure easy and hassle free shopping for your customers. Make sure to brace up for the expected heavy traffic to your sites in the coming days by fixing all the issues that could make your site slow down. Remember, online shoppers are impatient and always in a hurry.
Drum up excitement through giveaways
Run a giveaway online or in-store to build up excitement among your customers for the back to school campaign. These contests will not just help you gain PR but also valuable contact details of your customers that come handy in your forthcoming promotions and contests.
Help your customers with school tips
Your campaigns should not focus exclusively on getting your products sold. You can make it interesting for the customers by sharing useful school tips with your recipients to make a personal connection. For instance easy breakfast recipes for school kids or a campus survival guide will all be fabulous options to consider. Not necessarily tips, you can even hand out useful gifts like calendar magnets or planners as incentives that your customers can use in school or home.
You don’t have to sell school supplies to run BTS campaigns
Anyone can run BTS campaign and not just those that are selling school supplies. Any business owner can cleverly bring in the BTS theme to their promotions.
For instance Back to school time for a car dealer could mean … time to get a bigger car for the family!
These are only a few of the many tips that might help you make the most of this year’s back to school season. Can you can think of more such creative ideas to get people engaged with your business? We would love to hear from you !
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