Rocket Fuel: Dads pushing more BTS buys

When it comes to back to school, retailers might want to spend a little time on Dad. While moms still make the bulk of back to school (BTS) buys, data from Rocket Fuel shows dads are taking on some of these responsibilities.

by Kristina Knight

A lot of back to school buying is going on across the US, but it isn't just moms and kids hitting stores this year - data from Rocket Fuel indicates dads are making more BTS purchases in 2012. And, there is still time to target dad since some shoppers won't buy a thing for school until the first day bell has rung.

According to the Rocket Fuel report:

• Just over half of moms and dads will "only shop" in-store in 2012
• About 15% of dads and 29% of moms will shop in-store and online
• 24% of dads will use a mobile device to assist shopping in-store, 9% of moms will do the same
• Less than 20% of moms and dads use a mobile device to buy items online

One interesting finding from the report is that dads are most likely to ask a friend or rely on friends' recommendations when buying products for back to school. Researchers found Dad is almost twice as likely to weight purchases according to a friend recommendation than Teen. Moms are least likely to rely on a friend recommendation about a purchase.

Back to school households, both college-aged and with younger children, are expected to spend nearly $84 billion on supplies, clothing and electronics in 2012.

Tags: back to school, ecommerce, online shopping, retail trends, Rocket Fuel