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Back to school: Cutting costs during school shopping

It’s August and with the end of summer, comes the start of a new school year.

This year, parents are facing unique challenges as just about everything has gotten more expensive — inflation has not been this high since the early ‘80s.

Despite that, the National Retail Federation has predicted that consumers will spend $37 billion as much of that money will go toward school supplies such as books, backpacks and clothing.

The federation also estimates that a single family with kids in grades K-12 will spend an average of $864 on back-to-school shopping as 75% of consumers have already seen high prices.

“It’s not just people of a certain income level, it’s everyone being impacted by inflation,” said Leah Logan, vice president of social commerce products, INMAR Intelligence.

That information is based on new data from INMAR Intelligence’s annual back-to-school survey.

While Logan said the survey’s theme showed plenty of frustration or concern, she said people were going to continue to shop but be more cautious about spending, including being frugal.

As people are shopping, this year they are attempting to soften the spending blow by shopping earlier, more often and switching to cheaper alternatives. They are also looking for sales, coupons, buying generic items over name brands and shopping at discount stores.

“People have really adopted kind of digital, online shopping,” Logan said.

Consumers are also doing hybrid shopping.

“Shoppers are looking for deals and searching for deals. You know, it’s not economically feasible, especially with gas prices to drive around to multiple stores. And there are so many ways you can have products brought to you and still get the best price,” Logan said. “I think the best advice is to maintain your hybrid behaviors.”

While hybrid shopping might seem hard to some, it doesn’t have to be as it just takes a little bit of know-how.

Tips for hybrid shopping:

  1. Compare prices from store to store and look out for sales, promotions and coupons.
  2. Use a retailer’s loyalty program as a way to save, if offered.
  3. Shoppers can also compare prices on Google by using price filters or downloading an app that does the work.
  4. If a shopper wants to take it further, use a browser extension to find coupons and get money back on the things that are already being purchased.

“Don’t be afraid to take advantage and shop around. Anything you can do to kind of find that nice hybrid balance because with a little bit of searching and a little bit of data sharing, there’s a whole lot you can do to save money,” said Logan.

Logan said INMAR has also seen a shift in demand for clothes and beauty items, saying a good way to save on those things is to buy less now and then shop during holiday sales later in the year.