Rocket Fuel: Dads pushing more BTS buys

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