Supermarkets remain top choice for UK back-to-school buys

U.K. grocers’ ability to use heavy discounting and promotions has cemented their position as the go-to destination for back-to-school products, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData.

The company’s latest report, Back to School 2018, reveals that price and, in particular, the presence of discounts has grown in importance for consumers in 2018, with over three quarters of back to school shoppers stating that they expect retailers to offer promotions and discounts on back to school ranges. 

The company’s latest report, Back to School 2018, reveals that price and, in particular, the presence of discounts has grown in importance for consumers in 2018. 

While 31.9% of consumers stated that they felt better off compared to last year, rising prices and sustained high inflation in food has ensured that consumers are looking to make savings where possible.

Zoe Mills, retail analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Uniform remains the largest sub-category, commanding 38.3% of all back to school spend—but this proportion is decreasing (3.4 percentage points year-on-year) as average product spend rose across most other categories.”

Consumers have stated that they spent more than in 2017, but these shoppers were more likely to finance expenditures through credit cards, retailer finance options, and store cards than last year.

Mills concludes: “While social media advertising campaigns from the likes of Nike and Adidas have influenced trends in some sub-categories such as sportswear, leading to growth at specialists, market dominators like Tesco and ASDA have such an established position in back to school shopping that it remains challenging for other retailers to gain traction.

‘‘In particular, Tesco has shown resilience as despite closing its Tesco Direct website this year, which reduced the back-to-school product range in its collection, Tesco has still performed well, highlighting loyalty among its customer base and showcasing that despite a reduced offer, Tesco was able to meet the needs of consumers.”

* The survey data is taken from GlobalData Retail’s 2018 survey of 1,560 back to school shoppers.