As families and collegians head back to school, they’re taking their smartphones and tablets with them as they search for the best prices on supplies and apparel.
New National Retail Federation surveys by BIGresearch show that four in 10 college shoppers and three in 10 kindergarten-12th grade shoppers with tablets plan to use the devices to purchase items on their back-to-school lists. And 18.8 percent of K-12 shoppers and 16.8 percent of college shoppers will use smartphones in their purchases.
Of the college shoppers with tablets, juniors, graduate students and freshmen will be the ones using tablets the most to purchase their school items. Nearly half of surveyed juniors (47.5 percent), graduate students (47.4 percent) and freshmen (47.2 percent) say they plan to purchase school products via their tablet.
An Avanade retail expert says tablets and smartphones allow for more comparison shopping, and the trend, though emerging, will take off.
Says NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay: “Retailers are using everything in their arsenal to attract customers whenever and wherever they want to shop – and mobile retailing is a big part of that strategy. Consumers looking to save time and money while shopping for school items will be able to find their favorite brands in an instant, complete their checklists and purchase what they need, all with a swipe of their finger.”
Source: NRF, August 2011
