Surveys: Moms pounding the retail pavement for back to school

Over the next few weeks moms across the US are going to make a dent in the family budget with back to school buys. According to new data out from Punchtab 'Mom Spending' will increase about 77% saying they'll spend 'at least' what they spent in 2013 on back to school items.

by Kristina Knight

Most moms will be doing their back to school shopping in-store, but mobile will be a big influencer according to the report.

"Spending among Moms is on the rise this back-to-school shopping season, which makes understanding their path to purchase extremely valuable," said Robyn Hannah, VP, PR and Communications at PunchTab. "Moms are eschewing social media for purchase decisions this season, but that doesn't mean they can't be reached. As more Moms gravitate towards in-store purchases and turn to mobile devices for coupons while on the go, there's a unique opportunity for retail and CPG organizations to reach them on mobile, and even turn them into repeat buyers. The trick is to understand your consumers segments and provide the right offer, on the right channel, at the right time. Which is why we obsess about these insights at PunchTab."

Some interesting takeaways from the Punchtab report include:

• 75% of moms surveyed say they won't use social media for back to school purchase decisions
• 60% say they'll use smartphones to find coupons while BTS shopping
• 89% of moms say coupons/deals influence their purchase decisions

While in-store, by the way, moms are most likely to be using smartphones to check prices between stores or to look for products at online retailers.

Meanwhile, Offers.com data indicates about one-quarter of parents will do at least some back to school shopping online. Their primary reason for shopping online is avoiding long store lines and being assured they product they want is available.

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: back to school, back to school shopping, ecommerce, ecommerce trends, Offers, Punchtab