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A strong digital presence drove Nordstrom Rack's Q2 growth, while Crocs hopes to revitalize its HEYDUDE brand by focusing on a younger, female audience. Holliseter is leveraging back-to-school promotions and targeted marketing initiatives to reintroduce the brand to younger consumers.

As ecommerce grows in back-to-school shopping (34.9% of total back-to school sales this year versus 33.5% in 2023), content creators are playing a pivotal role in how consumers find school supplies. This shift is driven by younger parents buying classroom supplies for K-12 children and college students outfitting their dorm rooms. Both groups favor online shopping for its convenience and the ability to compare prices, our analyst Sarah Marzano said in a recent edition of our 鈥淏ehind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail鈥� podcast.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss standout data points from this year鈥檚 back-to-school season, creators' role in this shopping period, and what back-to-school is trying to tell us about this year's upcoming holidays. Listen to the conversation with our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sarah Marzano and Zak Stambor.

Over three-quarters (77%) of US parents plan to visit mass merchant retailers for their back-to-school shopping, per a May 2024 survey from Deloitte.

Urban Outfitters and Pacsun are tapping into Pinterest and in-person experiences to get students and families shopping, while Meijer, Walmart, and Target are focused on value. Those are just a few brands that made our Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List, Back-to-School Edition, for July 2024.

Following an all-time high of $41 billion in 2023, US K-12 back-to-school retail spending will drop to $39 billion this year, according to July 2024 data from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers in July, focusing on back-to-school initiatives for this episode. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow will defend their list against vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analyst Sky Canaves, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

Has holiday creep crept over the line? Brands risk turning off consumers by launching Christmas countdowns in August and offering pumpkin spice lattes before kids head back to school.

Although price is crucial in back-to-school shopping this year, consumers are ready to spend. Discounting will be essential for retailers to secure their share of back-to-school sales, as will employing omnichannel strategies to connect the physical and digital experience.

Consumers take a cautious approach to back-to-school shopping: To drive shoppers to spend, Macy鈥檚 revamped its Epic Threads brand, Kohl鈥檚 added Limited Too, and Old Navy offered cash back.

Ecommerce will account for 35% of all back-to-school shopping this year: That鈥檚 a massive shift from the 23% share it accounted for prior to the pandemic as consumers embrace convenience.

Summer is just getting started, but it鈥檚 already back-to-school season for parents. As of mid-June, nearly a quarter (24%) of US adults have already begun back-to-school shopping and another 45% will start sometime before the end of July, according to a March 2024 survey from LTK. As retailers roll out their back-to-school campaigns, here are three tips to keep consumers engaged and spending.

Key stat: Nearly half (49%) of US adults will begin back-to-school shopping by early July, according to a March 2024 survey by LTK.

US ecommerce back-to-school and holiday growth trends are usually pretty similar, but this year, growth will diverge. US ecommerce back-to-school and holiday spending growth were within 1 percentage point of each other in both 2020 and 2021, and closer to 4 percentage points apart in 2022, during a holiday season impacted by inflation, supply chain issues, and geopolitical concerns. This year, we forecast a US back-to-school ecommerce growth rate of 1.5%, slower than our forecast 11.3% holiday retail ecommerce growth.

With students heading back to school, how is the sales season shaping up? We鈥檝e compiled five charts on the 2023 back-to-school shopping season. When and where are consumers shopping and how are they looking to save?

We expect back-to-school sales to rise 2.9%: While that鈥檚 a far cry from rates over the past two years, it is markedly higher than in 2019.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss what's most important this back-to-school season, how much Amazon Prime Day might have stretched out the shopping period, and where coolness comes from. Then, for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the things you need to do to be better than OK and in an OK market. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analyst Zak Stambor.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss this years Prime Day. Was Amazon's ad platform breaking on the day a big deal, how other retailers event day behavior is changing, and how the shopping holiday is impacting the back-to-school season. Listen to the conversation with our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sarah Marzano and Zak Stambor.

Prime Day 2024 shatters records yet again as consumers stock up on essentials: Shoppers spent $14.2 billion online, spurred by significant discounts and the chance to get a head start on back-to-school needs.

Apparel and consumer electronics could get a boost from the back-to-school and holiday seasons. But home improvement may have a ways to go before the category rebounds.

Deep discounts may drive consumers previously holding back on big-ticket or discretionary purchases to splurge, while parents will keep an eye out for back-to-school deals. Walmart, Target, and Best Buy may see Prime Day-driven boosts in physical store traffic.

Its relaunched Pink brand is gaining traction with younger consumers after going viral on TikTok and hosting back-to-school events on college campuses. After trimming its assortment to focus on underwear and beauty products, Victoria鈥檚 Secret is getting back into apparel categories like activewear, which offer the brand additional opportunities to boost engagement and purchase frequency.

Advertisers can leverage Pinterest鈥檚 first-party data to create highly visual, personalized ads for key retail events like back-to-school and holiday shopping. Meanwhile, online video and CTV ad formats help advertisers reach a wider audience and drive brand awareness. Why it matters: We forecast US off-site retail media ad spend will grow 42.1% this year to $13.06 billion.