Average Parent Will Spend $600-plus While Back-to-School Shopping

August 1, 2012 By

The National Retail Federation’s 2012 Back-to-School spending survey, conducted by BIGinsight, reveals that the average American with children in grades K-12 will spend $688.62 on their children, up nearly $80.00 from last year. Total spending is expected to reach $30.3 billion. Combined, K-12 and college spending will reach $83.8 billion, making the back-to-school shopping season the second biggest consumer spending event for retailers, behind the winter holidays.

NRF attributes the jump to more children entering elementary and middle school this fall and parents hitting the stores to replace and replenish what kids had to “make-do” with last year. This summer, parents are expected to spend the most on clothing, accessories, and electronics—approximately $246.10 on clothes and $217.88 on electronics. Nearly 60 percent will invest in an electronic device. Additionally, the average person with children in grades K-12 will spend $129.20 on shoes and $95.44 on school supplies such as notebooks, pencils, and backpacks.

More families say they will shop at department stores and online for school items as they look to get the best bang for their buck. Nearly 60 percent will take advantage of department stores’ private label offerings and exclusive product lines, up from 57 percent last year and the highest in the survey’s 10-year history.  Parents will also scour the Internet for free-shipping and other promotions. Nearly 40 percent will take their school shopping lists online, up from 31.7 percent last year and nearly doubling since 2007, when 21.4 percent planned to shop online.

This post was originally written by Lindsay Gordon and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

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NPD Releases Answers to July Survey: Where Are Parents Back-to-School Shopping?

July 31, 2012 By

The NPD Kids Industry Data Service (KIDS) provides monthly insight into purchases made on behalf of kids ages 0-14 across product categories with an emphasis on licenses and brands. In addition, each month the company asks an open-ended, unaided question designed to provide insight into what is top-of-mind with kids today. In July, the question was: “Where do you plan to do most of the back to school shopping for your child(ren)?” The NPD KIDS compiled 1,760 mentions of retailers where parents indicated they plan to do back-to-school shopping on behalf of their kids.

Thirty-six percent of respondents indicated Walmart; 20 percent indicated Target; 4 percent indicated Kohls and JC Penney; 3 percent indicated Staples and dollar stores, including Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Dollar Stores and Family Dollar; and 2 percent indicated Kmart, Old Navy, a shopping mall, or wherever there is a sale.

According to the NPD KIDS, the 2 percent of respondents indicating that they will shop “wherever there is a sale,” represents willingness on the part of shoppers to wait and hunt for promotions on school supplies. This is a response that has not shown up in previous iterations of the survey question.

This post was originally written by Sierra McCleary-Harris and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

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Electric Friends Launches New Speaker Line

June 26, 2012 By

Electric Friends, a new speaker line for the iPhone and iPod, announced the release of animal-themed speakers. The four varieties, including Sing Sing the Panda, Chew Chew the Dog, Kwack Kwack the Duck, and Ki Ki the Cat,  are on sale now.

As the back-to-school season approaches, these speakers can serve as a new classroom accessory and charging dock. The speakers are compatible with  iPhone (4/4S, 3GS/3G), iPod Touch, iPod Classic, and iPod Nano (1st-6th generations).

This post was originally written by Gigi Rubin and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

Filed Under: 5-8, 6-8, 8 and up, 9 and up, New Products Tagged With: , , ,

Allergy-Conscious Mom Takes Action with AllerMates

June 6, 2012 By

Children with allergies will feel a little safer this summer with the launch of AllerMates, a new line of character-driven wristbands, dog tags, and lunch boxes designed to present a more personalized, visual representation of specific allergies. Iris Shamus, founder and CEO of AllerMates, created the line after her son’s struggle with allergies.

“No matter how many forms I signed or how many times I spoke to the teacher, the inevitable happened” Shamus said.  “I set out to create something more personalized so that a camp counselor, caregiver, or teacher would always be aware of his allergies.”

The line is based on 14 fun, original characters that represent the most common allergies: peanut, nut, gluten/wheat, milk, egg, shellfish, penicillin, insect sting, latex, pollen, fish, soy, sesame, and cat. All products are hypo-allergenic, nickel and latex free, and have passed rigorous safety standards and testing

In addition to the products, AllerMates offers tips, facts, and general information about allergies, as well as games and activities on its website. The website also has a fully functional social community allowing its members free and easy interaction and sharing of the latest blogs, news, videos, and information within the allergy community.

AllerMates products can be purchased at www.allermates.com, Amazon.com and at independent retailers throughout the U.S. as well as stores in Canada, United Kingdom, Portugal and South America.

This post was originally written by Leah Rocketto and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

Filed Under: 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9 and up, New Products Tagged With: , , , ,

Report: Nearly Half of Dollars Spent on Kids Were Requested by Children

October 18, 2010 By

According to a new study by The NPD Group, Spotlight on Kids: Understanding Cross-Category Purchasing: Data from July 2010—Back To School, 49 percent of all dollars spent on kids in July were specifically requested by the children. The survey also found that girls were more likely to request apparel and books and boys typically asked for sporting goods and video games.

In July, most products purchased for kids were apparel (20 percent), then footwear (13 percent), toys (8 percent), and video game consoles (7 percent). Apparel also took the No. 1 spot (56 percent) in terms of the percentage of dollars spent on sale items, followed by arts & crafts, consumer electronics, and school gear.

Nearly two-thirds of dollars spent on kids came from their parents, followed by grandparents with 19 percent. When comparing the percentage of dollars spent on used and pre-owned items by category, video game software, books, and video game hardware were the leaders at 19 percent, 11 percent, and 9 percent, respectively.

In terms of dollars spent, 28 percent were on licensed goods. Forty-two (42) percent of all dollars spent on kids ages 3 to 5 were for licensed products.

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July Retail Sales Increase Year-Over-Year for Back-to-School Season

August 16, 2010 By

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), as back-to-school sales start, retail industry sales for July (excluding automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) increased 3.1 percent unadjusted year-over-year. Retail industry sales also declined 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month.

July retail sales released by the U.S. Commerce Department show that total retail sales (including non-general merchandise categories such as automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) increased 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted from June and increased 5.4 percent unadjusted year-over-year.

Back-to-school related categories also saw year-over-year gains, according to the NRF. Clothing and accessories stores were up 4.7 percent over last July, but declined 0.7 percent from June. Electronics and appliance stores increased 8.1 percent year-over-year and declined 0.1 percent from last month. Furniture and home furnishing stores increased 0.4 percent from the same period a year ago and declined 0.3 percent from June.

A survey conducted by NRF, released in July, found that the average family of students in grades K-12 would spend $594.24 on back-to-school this year, an increase of 8.3 percent compared to $548.72 last year.

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