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The number of Americans who are concerned about inflation’s impact on back-to-school shopping has decreased in recent years – but roughly a third of shoppers are still concerned about the start of the academic year impacting their finances.
Thirty-two percent of Americans say that the cost of back-to-school products either already has or at some point will shape their shopping decisions, according to a new report from consumer financial services company Bankrate. This constitutes a nearly 10% decrease from 2022, when inflation was at its peak.
Forty-nine percent of Americans plan to participate in some form of back-to-school shopping. Predictably, the younger generations are more likely to be getting ready for a new school year either for themselves or their families. Sixty-seven percent of Gen Zers and 64% of millennials plan to buy back-to-school products.
“As inflation has come down, Americans have become more comfortable paying for things like back-to-school shopping,” said Bankrate RATE+1.41% Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman in a statement.
“Shoppers aren’t clutching their wallets nearly as tightly this year. It’s important not to let your guard down, though. Credit card rates and balances remain near record highs and there’s a cumulative toll to all of the price increases we’ve seen the past few years.”
Despite the decrease in inflation, 31% of Americans say that they’re planning to go into debt to finance back-to-school shopping, compared to 29% in 2022. This debt comes both in the form of carrying over credit card balances and using buy now, pay later services, such as Klarna.
Aside from going into debt, a significant number of people doing back-to-school shopping are employing other strategies to cope with inflation. Roughly one in five Americans plan to buy cheaper brands or fewer new supplies, while about 30% say they will use more coupons and deals this year. The number of people using the latter strategy has decreased since 2022, when nearly half of back-to-school shoppers planned to rely on couponing.
Experts are still encouraging shoppers to be careful with their spending and consider alternate methods of finding school supplies, while the economy remains on somewhat shaky footing.
“Use technology to your advantage this back-to-school shopping season,” said Rossman in a statement. “For instance, my wife is part of a local ‘buy nothing’ group on Facebook and we acquire a ton of free clothes for our school-aged daughters. When you need to buy something, aim to stack discounts.