Back-to-School Spending to Reach $491 Million Statewide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 29, 2022

Contact: Bryan Wachter (775) 771-8969 | Bryan@RANNV.org

Back-to-School Spending to Reach $491 Million Statewide Spending Levels Up Despite Inflation Concerns With summer winding down, students and their families are headed to retailers across the Silver State to get ready for the new school year. The Retail Association of Nevada (RAN) estimates that back-to-school shoppers will spend $490.5 million on clothes, backpacks and school supplies for the upcoming year. Back-to-school shopping is one of the biggest retail periods of the year, second only to the winter holidays.

“Back-to school-shopping is a necessity for Nevada families of school-age children, and this year more families are cutting spending or relying on financing options to make sure their kids have everything they need to learn,” said Bryan Wachter, Senior Vice President of the Retail Association of Nevada. “Spending on school-related electronics surged during the pandemic to facilitate remote learning and continues to make up a majority of back-to-school spending.”

Campuses across Nevada will begin filling up through August, with Clark County schools starting on August 8 and Washoe County schools starting on August 15. Most colleges, including the University of Nevada campuses in Reno and Las Vegas and the College of Southern Nevada, start classes on August 29.

RAN projects $346.3 million will be spent shopping for K-12 students, up 2.5 percent from last year. Electronics are expected to be the largest spending category at $117.4 million. Clothing and accessories sales came in at a close second with expected spending of $105.6 million, followed by shoes ($67.4 million) and school supplies ($55.9 million). On a national level, families with students in grades K-12 will spend $36.9 billion, based on a recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF), with average spending per household nationwide expected to be $864.35, up from $848.90 last year.

With over 120,000 students enrolled in public and private colleges throughout Nevada, RAN estimates spending for students heading back to college will reach an estimated $144.2 million.

Electronics is expected to be the largest spending category at $36.1 million, followed by dorm and apartment furnishings ($20.5 million), clothing and accessories ($20.2 million) and food 1 of 2

($14.1 million). Nationwide, the NRF reports spending for college students is projected to reach $73.9 billion, with the average household spending $1,199.43.

Rising inflation is a serious concern for surveyed shoppers this year, as 38.0 percent of respondents said that they would cut back spending in other areas to cover back-to-school items. Further, many shoppers are finding ways to save by utilizing retailers’ sales events to knock out some or all of their shopping. Amazon Prime Day was a popular event again this year and saw 62.0 percent of back-to-school shoppers check out the online retailer’s deals.

Additionally, 31.0 percent of respondents indicated that they would be looking for deals at other online retailers, and 20.0 percent of shoppers would be looking for in-store deals.

Retailers are also shifting their strategies this year by getting inventory onto shelves earlier as well as extending back-to-school shopping offerings.

Among K-12 shoppers, online is the most popular shopping destination with 50.0 percent of respondents indicating that they would make a purchase via the web. College shoppers also plan to utilize the internet to complete their back-to-school shopping, as 43.0 percent of respondents will be visiting popular online retail sites such as Walmart, Amazon or Target.

Department stores are the second most-popular shopping destination for both shopper segments, as 45.0 percent of K-12 shoppers will be going to a department store and 36.0 percent of college shoppers will make a purchase there. Other popular shopping destinations for K-12 shoppers are discount stores (40.0 percent), clothing stores (37.0 percent) and electronics stores (28.0 percent). Other back-to-college shopping locations include discount stores (29.0 percent), office supply stores (27.0 percent) and college bookstores (26.0 percent).

Many back-to-school shoppers got an early jump for the upcoming academic year as 56.0 percent of shoppers indicated that they had already started their shopping as of early July.

However, 85.0 percent of shoppers indicated that they have at least half of their shopping still ahead, suggesting busy back-to-school aisles at Silver State retailers in the weeks to come.

Average Back-to-School Spending K-12

$1,199.43

College $1,200.32 $976.78

$969.88

$899.18 $916.48

$669.28 '14

'15

$696.70

$687.72 $673.57 '16

$864.35

$942.17

$888.71 $630.36

$1,059.20

$848.90 $789.49

$684.79 '17

'18

'19

'20

'21

'22

Source: National Retail Federation ### 2 of 2