Consumers are expected to spend record amounts for both back-to-school and back-to-college shopping this year, according to projections made by the National Retail Federation.
Back-to-school spending is seen reaching an unparalleled $41.5 billion, up from $36.9 billion last year and the previous high of $37.1 billion in 2021. NRF also forecasts that back-to-college spending is expected to hit $94 billion, about $20 billion over last year’s record.
“Our research for 2023 shows American consumers are eager to jumpstart their back-to-school and college purchases early,” observes NRF President Matthew Shay. The forecast says that families with children in K-12 are planning to spend an average of $890, compared with 2022’s record of $864.
As of early July, 55% of consumers said they had already started shopping. According to NRF, this is on par with last year, but is up from 44% in 2019, and is in line with the trend of consumers shopping earlier for major spending events, like holidays.
However, while consumers have started shopping early, as of early July, 85% said they still had at least half of their shopping left to do.
NRF says 69% of back-to-school shoppers expect to buy electronics or other computer-related accessories, up from 65% last year and the highest in the survey’s history.
Total spending on electronics is predicted to reach a record $15.2 billion and the top electronics purchases will be laptop computers (51%), tablets (36%) and calculators (29%).
College student spending is seen rising to an average of $1,3667 per person, up from 2022’s $1,199, and a new record from the previous record of $1,200.32 in 2021. Since 2019, back-to-college spending has nearly doubled, NRF pointed out.