¶ Back-to-School Shopping Trends
August is just two weeks away. Students and parents are putting together their back-to-school shopping lists. Let's check in with Bob Fibbs, CEO of the Retail Doctor in New York. Bob, my husband's a teacher. We're at Target the other day, and I see the back-to-school section. I said, hey, you need to get anything? He said, it is too soon. Don't bring that up.
He's obviously avoiding it for other reasons, but I think a lot of parents might be waiting on it because of worrying about the dent it's going to put on their wallet this year. Well, yeah, yeah. They're saying that it's, I think it's $875 the National Retail Federation posted recently. And for some people, that's as much as their holiday budget. And on top of that, you know, a lot of teachers don't have the supplies for their classrooms. So they've got a budget they're trying to make as well.
It's a lot of, I mean, that's the downside for consumers, but as a retailer, it's a great time. Well, sure.
¶ Impact of Inflation on Costs
Here's the thing. How much of this is tied to inflation? How much of this is just, well, now, you know, you've got to have the latest, greatest tech for your kid when they're going off to school. What's contributing to this pretty surprising cost? Well, you know, that's a great point that they don't break it out. But the NRF said it was like $253 on average for clothes, $170 for shoes and $300 for electronics.
Well, I don't know about Not you, but 170 for shoes, that could be one pair these days. And so I don't know as much of inflation as much as, you know, not saying get off my lawn, kids. But when I was a kid, you didn't get a chance. You got the cheapest shoes and get out there, right? Back in my day, we had the TI-83. That didn't cost $300.
¶ Advice for Back-to-School Shopping
I'm just saying. We'll get off that stump. What advice do you have then for parents that are looking to get back to school shopping, looking for deals? Because we know that this is a good opportunity for retailers to maybe put a little bit of a squeeze on them. Well, that's a great point, Rachel. And this week, you know, is Amazon's big prime day that they're doing for two days. But all of the retailers are jumping in just as much. So look for Macy's doing a whole thing this week. So is Target.
A lot of other people are going to be finding ways to do it. And then the other side is, you know, if this is how much some households have for their holidays, why not ask your, you know, your extended family, your grandparents and their aunts and aunts, like, you know, I could use some help here. and they would love to help.
You just got to ask. I think that's a really great point because the people who are just as happy to get your kid a birthday present are probably equally excited to help them in their academic endeavors. Absolutely. And they'd like to see it on them. So, hey, there's all that stuff. Thanks so much for joining us. Bob Fibbs, he's CEO of The Retail Doctor in New York.