With the new school year fast approaching, new research from The Nielsen Company shows that consumers won’t be skimping on supplies, despite widespread concerns about a pending recession. Nielsen forecasts 2.6 percent growth or more than $1.57 billion in school and office supply sales in U.S. grocery, drug and mass merchandiser stores during the core Back to School season of mid-July through early September. Back to School sales represent more than a quarter (28 percent) of the school and office supply category’s annual sales of $5.5 billion1.
“Consumers may be cutting back in terms of discretionary spending, but they are not about to send their kids to school without the necessities,” says James Russo, Vice President of Marketing, Food and Beverage Sector, The Nielsen Company. “While we don’t expect to see a drop in Back to School sales in this economic downturn, we do foresee changes in where consumers shop for Back to School items, along with the prices they are willing to pay.”
With nearly 100 percent household penetration, grocery stores may prove to be the winner this Back to School season, as consumers seek to combine shopping trips. Nielsen In-Store research shows that in August and September 2007, nearly 850 million consumers visited measured grocery stores, compared to an average two-month period of slightly more than 500 million consumers. Grocery stores saw more than 105 million consumers visit the home, school and office supply departments during the Back to School period, marked by an increase in traffic mid-August and a traffic spike during the first week of September.
More than 1.3 billion consumers visited measured mass merchandisers in August and September 2007, with 162 million consumers shopping the home, school and office supply departments, and the highest level of traffic taking place during the first week of August.
For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.
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