Back To School Dirty Looks

According to market research firm NPD Group, retailers hoping for a big back-to-school splurge in the summer may face detention from procrastinating shoppers. NPD's study of 12,000 consumers surveyed between July 1 and July 14 found that only 35% would start back-to-school shopping by August 1, 60% said they would start by September 1, and the remaining 5% would start after September 1. NPD noted this represented an increase in shoppers postponing purchases until the start of school from last year.

NPD noted 40% of consumers plan to spend the same amount, 38% expect spending less, and 22% will spend more than last year. Another market research firm, Customer Growth Partners, previously forecasted a 6.2% increase in 2011 back-to-school spending. NPD noted 82% of shoppers would focus on value, not trends.

A poll in May of 2612 shoppers of online c-commerce website Pricegrabber noted 48% of them plan to spend $250 or more on back-to-school purchases and 25% will spend $500 or more -- a modest decline from 2010, when 56% indicated they'd spend $250 or more and 31% planned to spend $500 or more. The poll also noted 41% of shoppers indicated they will visit retailer websites in 2011 to print out coupons, versus 33% last year.