This evening we're only a few
weeks into summer break for
kids across Western New York.
Airports are busy festivals
and fares are in full swing.
And as Elise told us,
it definitely feels like the heart
of summer out there with the heat.
So students and parents might say it's
a bit premature to start talking about.
Back to school shopping,
but for retailers it is the 2nd busiest
time of the year after Christmas.
And with record high inflation,
many families might be scrambling
for a good deal.
What we learned this from the National
Retail Federation on average.
Families will spend $170 more than
they did back in 2019 for supplies
and clothing this year and more than
1/3 of consumers are cutting back in
other areas in order to free up some cash.
So tonight with the hope of
saving you some money,
we're joined by Catherine Cullen.
She is senior director of Industry
and consumer insights for the
National Retail Federation.
Thanks so much for coming on,
we really appreciate it.
Thanks for having me on.
It's great to join you all.
So pretty much everyone is impacted
by this high inflation at every turn.
So we're wondering kind of big picture.
What have you found out in terms of
how these high prices are gonna impact
the back to school shopping season?
Similarly, well, we're seeing
really that for families back to
school is an essential category and
like other essential categories,
they are going to prioritize
their spending there.
Maybe cutting back in other areas,
shopping for deals more,
but really prioritizing what
they and their kids will need for
the start of classes this fall,
we're seeing that consumers,
on average are expecting to spend over
$860.00 on everything from clothes.
And school supplies to electronics
and total spending could total
around $37 billion.
Both of these are pretty close to
what people spent last year as well.
Aside from starting your shopping early,
which we always hear is a great way to try
to find good deals and maybe save some cash.
Besides that, what else can people
do to maybe get the best deals?
And what are retailers offering up this year?
Or is it just that with inflation so
high we're not seeing the types of deals?
We know that consumers are hunting for deals.
They're much more likely to be
looking for those sales and
promotions early in the season.
But really, throughout and
retailers have been responding,
we know that just last week we saw you know,
many retailers offer major sale events,
whether that's Prime day or Black
Friday in July or deal days and
those types of events are certainly
attracting consumers right now.
But for those for folks who are looking for.
Other ways to save money.
We do encourage people to
check out discount retailers.
Many of them do have us school
supplies as well as just watching
what retailers are saying,
what the promotions they're
offering through their mobile apps,
or loyalty programs.
All of those can give you ways
to save throughout the season,
and we know retailers are responding.
They know this is important to consumers
and shoppers are price sensitive,
so they will be planning major sale events.
Throughout the season.
Finally, as we talk about inflation,
we know that there are quite a
few factors that go into that,
and one of them has been the continued
disruption to the supply chains, right?
And all these global shipping
problems and shortages.
Do you anticipate that we're going to
see any shortages of any big ticket
back to school items this year?
And and how that factors into all this?
Well, you're absolutely right that
supply chain issues have contributed to
some of the rising costs that retailers
and consumers are seeing right now.
But retailers have been dealing
with this throughout the pandemic,
as have consumers and what we've seen
and heard from many of our Members is
that they have been moving product in
earlier to make sure that they are ready
for some of these key busy seasons.
We also believe that's why consumers
are starting to shop earlier in
anticipation that some items.
Might take longer to get to them,
or might be in short supply,
but from what we're hearing overall
from our members,
at least when it comes to back to school,
they're in a fairly strong inventory
position, but we do encourage
people not just to shop early,
but look on retailers.
Websites use their mobile apps often.
It'll tell you what's running low
and what's in stock and where to make
sure that you get all the items you
need for the first day of school.
We're barely past the 4th of July,
but it's an important.
Conversation to have even this time of year.
Our thanks to Catherine Cullen
for these shopping predictions.
She is senior director of Industry
and consumer insights with the
National Retail Federation.
We appreciate you
coming on. Thank you so much,
have a great back to school season.