Back to School Marketing Guide 2023

Introduction

Back-to-school shopping is the second most important retail period, just behind the winter holidays. But with a recession looming, inflationary pressures, and regional and global economic crises ongoing, there are some real concerns about how much consumers will be spending this year. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. In June 2022, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported that the Consumer Price Index hit 9.1%, the highest it had been in over 40 years - and consumers still shopped on par with the previous year’s records.

For the upcoming school season, brands and retailers will have to optimize their marketing efforts to keep this spending trend going, and entice ever more price-conscious shoppers. To help, we’ve created a handy guide to some key trends to watch out for, as well as strategies to consider for the 2024 back-to-school period. Get out your notebooks and keep that pencil sharpened!

Current Landscape of the Back-to-School Market

Inflation woes depressed retail sales in 2023, but the lesson from last year is that back-to-school remains an essential category for consumers. Major retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and The Home Depot are bracing for a slowing economy and 69% of consumers plan to cut back on nonessential spending over the next six months according to a 2023 PwC survey. But parents are expected to again spend record amounts preparing for the new school year.

Back-to-school shoppers are now more likely to opt for online shopping.

Online shopping remains a top choice for both back-to-school and back-to-college shoppers:

Back to school shoppers are likely to be strategic about what they are spending on with the focus being on essential school supplies over tech products that previously saw a rise during the pandemic.

Back-to-school purchases are heavily influenced by social media and socially savvy kids

Reliance on social media for information and shopping:

Students have a major influence on what their parents or guardians buy for them:

Back-to-School Marketing Trends

Gap’s 2022 back-to-school campaign, “Everyone Belongs,” focused on celebrating every child’s differences. In a national 30-second spot, children were seen playing and enjoying hobbies while speaking out about what it means to be different with messages like, “You can be you, and I can be me.” By emphasizing individualism & acceptance, Gap framed the campaign around the value in making kids feel most themselves in their products.

Nature Valley launched an environmentally friendly back-to-school campaign rewarding families who make sustainable choices. They challenged consumers to post a video of themselves on TikTok doing something sustainable with the hashtag #ReTokForNature for the chance to win access to its Nature Valley ReTok Store, where they could shop for free back-to-school gear including items in collaboration with brands like L.L. Bean and Stasher.

Ryan Kaji has become Gen Alpha's biggest breakout star and influencer. With a reach of over 33 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, Ryan's World, Kaji started out simply as a child reviewing toys online - now he has his own merchandise and licensing deals with retail behemoths like Walmart, Amazon and Nickelodeon, and earnings estimates of $250 Million. All before entering high school!

Back-to-School Marketing Strategies

For brands, It will be critical that their back-to-school marketing strategies not only make the shopping experience digital-friendly and efficient but also connect with key audiences in new ways. How? Here’s our back-to-school list to check-off!

Danone wanted to drive sales and capitalize on the key back-to-school shopping period while helping parents out at the most stressful time of the year. Snipp developed a seasonal-driven digital sweepstakes program, where consumers who purchased qualifying Danone products could upload their receipt on a program microsite + register for a chance to win one of five grand prizes of $12,000!.

Kids Foot Locker opened its first brick-and-mortar House of Play concept stores in Miami and Dallas as a way to give millennial parents (and their Alpha children) an interactive experience. These stores feature an array of immersive experiences, including murals designed to help youngsters create their own TikTok- and Instagram-worthy experiences.

American Eagle tapped musician and TikTok influencer Katherine Li, along with five other TikTok creators to promote a back-to-school branded hashtag challenge, which asked users to shoot a video showing off their American Eagle jeans. Three winners were awarded gift cards valued at $3,000 and saw their submissions shared on a Times Square billboard after the contest wrapped.

Conclusion

Even with a shift toward savings and belt-tightening, US households prioritize back-to-school shopping. But as the past year has shown, families are planning their budgets in advance and around key sales events, willing to begin shopping earlier or to wait longer for the best promotions. Brands and retailers should therefore focus on providing offers that generate real savings, and enhance the overall shopping experience with a seamless transition from online to in-store purchasing. Back-to-school marketing is becoming an increasingly competitive landscape, and brands looking to gain visibility will have to ensure they have a solid message, compelling pricing, and the right channels to reach their targeted shoppers.

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About Snipp

Snipp provides promotions and loyalty programs designed to engage customers across the entire path to purchase - in-store, at home and online. Clients can run one-off promotions to evergreen loyalty programs that meet objectives at a brand, shopper, category, and portfolio level and customizable by region, language, channel, retailer and more.

SnippCARE, our modular Customer Acquisition, Retention & Engagement platform, powered by our market-leading receipt processing platform for purchase and non=purchase validation, enables implementation of ROI-driven, omni-channel programs, globally. We capture zero-party data in real time and build proprietary data sets, driving engagement, personalization and brand loyalty and enabling intelligent decision-making. It’s tailor-made for brands to build deeper relationships with their customers.

For over a decade, we have worked with the world’s leading organizations in both B2C and B2B spaces, across industry verticals including CPG, retail, pharma, utility, home and outdoor, alcohol, tobacco, lifestyle and more.

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