»
An overwhelming majority of consumers (90 percent) say they will likely change their back-to-school shopping behavior this year because of economic concerns, according to a survey from Deloitte, MarketingCharts reports.
Some 71 percent of consumers say they will spend less than last year on back-to-school purchases, and 88 percent plan to shop at discount/value department stores. Almost half (48 percent) plan to reduce their household spending by more than $100.
Though consumers will continue to buy school supplies, such as paper, pencils and notebooks (95 percent), clothes (92 percent), shoes (86 percent) and backpacks/book bags (68 percent), many indicated they intend to cut back on these purchases.
Some 83 percent say they will spend less on clothes, while 48 percent said they will spend less on shoes and 30 percent will spend less on backpacks/book bags (see chart). Spending on basic supplies will take a lighter hit, with only 29 percent saying they will cut spending on them.
Other planned changes in shopping behavior:
“Consumers have been pessimistic for several months, primarily because of the strains on their budgets from higher gas and food prices,” said Stacy Janiak, Deloitte’s U.S. retail leader. “These survey results indicate that consumers will likely stick to the basics this fall, and parents may be saying ‘no’ more often as they head to the register.”
Some 41 percent of survey respondents say they will seek out “green” products this back-to-school season, and 31 percent say they will seek out green retailers. (See chart.)
“The green issue has captured the consumer’s attention,” said Janiak. “But the jury is still out on how much intention will translate into action.”
About the survey: The survey was conducted online by an independent research company July 11-14, 2008 among a sample of 5,035 consumers.
Sirius XM Radio’s fourth quarter revenues are growing in the double digits; there should be no problem refinancing the debt due in 2009, chief Mel Karmazin told Reuters.
The company should manage to improve revenues next year, despite the recession,…
Cox Enterprises, Inc. announced today that the company is bringing together its three media units - Cox Newspapers, Cox Television and Cox Radio - under a new organization named Cox Media Group, Inc., effective January 2009. The subsidiary will be headquartered…
Target is one of the first brands to create an iPhone application. The Target “gift globe” allows iPhone users to shake their phones to launch a snow-fall effect.
When the snow clears, a gift idea from Target is revealed. Users…
Only 28% of the audience of an average news program, website or magazine gets valuable information about products and services advertised there, making news venues less effective at conveying ad messages than all forms of media combined (see chart), according…
Conde Nast is removing Flip.com as an applicationon Facebook come Dec. 16. The website will also be shut down.
Flip launched in 2007 as an online scrapbooking site, reaching 300,000 users. But it failed to sustain the growth Conde Nast…
Effective immediately, any telemarketing call that delivers a prerecorded message must include a quick and easy way to opt-out of receiving future calls. The opt-out must work both for consumers who answer these calls in person and for those whose…
