School may just about to have let out for the summer, but the back-to-school shopping season is already underway. It is the time of year when parents and students of all ages start getting ready for a new term and start shopping for everything from notebooks and backpacks to the latest tech gadgets and uniform essentials.
Last year, parents struggled to afford back-to-school essentials, forcing them to cut back on spending on bigger-ticket items and rely on discounts and promotions. With a focus on value and quality, total back-to-school spending surpassed £1335 million in 2023.
While the cost-of-living crisis in the UK may not feel as dire as it did this time last year, consumers overall are still spending with caution. Perhaps in response, M&S has announced that it will not increase the price of its market leading school uniform. Despite economic uncertainty, back-to-school shopping remains one of the most important peak seasons for many retailers.
The real pressure of back-to-school shopping
One would think that since most schools enforce uniforms, back-to-school shopping would be simple. But for parents especially, it can be stressful—there are so many different options at different price points, not to mention the added pressure of getting the “right” items. Quality and value remain critical back-to-school criteria for parents, while popularity still reigns with most students.
Most back-school-shoppers look for answers to the questions below in order to make the best purchase decisions:
- Is it popular? As a parent, unless you’re “in the know”, it is not an easy task to find and select the popular items that most students want, especially if you’re time-strapped and shopping online without a store associate to readily ask.
- Is it good quality and good value? Popularity is not the only criteria for making the right decisions. Parents, especially, will be on the lookout for high-quality products at the right price points.
- Will it fit? One of the hardest things about online shopping is determining if a product will fit correctly to avoid having to return the eCommerce purchase.
- Is it sustainable? Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, especially among younger shoppers, who favour eco-friendly products and ethically sourced ingredients.
Retailers and brands that focus on helping shoppers easily find the answers to these questions are much better positioned to deliver stress-free and easy eCommerce shopping experiences that will lead to a greater share of back-to-school spending.
How to make back-to-school shopping less nerve-wracking
While you may have already kicked off your back-to-school eCommerce strategy, it is not too late to make your business stand out even more this season and secure a greater share of the back-to-school wallet. Social proof messaging, for instance, can be implemented in just a few weeks and yields immediate results. By aggregating and analysing real-time purchase trends and the behaviours of other shoppers, this powerful solution delivers relevant messaging that makes back-to-school shopping less nerve-wracking – essentially helping parents make the best purchase decisions and, as a result, significantly increasing sales.
Popularity/Trend Messaging: Helping parents buy the latest must-have items
Whether shopping for a backpack, a water bottle, a tech gadget or even school uniform essentials, most students will ask for the latest and most popular styles and brands. But how can parents confidently determine what products are most popular? Social proof trending messaging surfaces items that are viewed most and selling fast, providing back-to-school shoppers with a quick and easy way to pinpoint the most popular products within a category and subcategories. Unlike traditional bestseller badging, social proof messaging is delivered in real-time with quantifiable data like “67 purchased in the last hour”.
Attribute Messaging: Helping parents navigate feature-rich products
The right product information is vital to helping shoppers make better purchase decisions, but too often, critical product data is buried in product descriptions and hard to find.
With attribute messaging, key attributes such as organic cotton, leakproof, or lightweight are highlighted upfront, making it easier for shoppers to navigate a myriad of choices faster.
Review Messaging: Helping parents shop with confidence
By aggregating reviews and incorporating them into social proof messaging, you can help shoppers make more informed and confident purchase decisions. Messages can include fit advice, such as “87% say size runs large” or impressions of quality like “90% of shoppers rate this 4 stars for quality”.
Aggregating review messaging and harnessing the power of other customers’ opinions increases conversions but also reduces the risk of returns, ensuring customers get the right product the first time, rather than having to re-order days before the new school year begins.
Stock Messaging: Helping parents shop in time
Stock messaging helps warn shoppers when the stock of items they are browsing is running low. This is especially vital given how short the back-to-school window can be and the inevitable back-to-school shop rush when parents realise that what they bought earlier in the summer no longer fits or that the new year is looming faster than they realised.
The value of social proof messaging throughout the back-to-school shopping journey
Social proof messaging and each of the above messaging types have different roles throughout the back-to-school shopping experience. The combination of relevant messages, delivered at the right time and customised to your brand’s look and feel, can significantly impact your sales results during this peak season.
Whether targeting budget-conscious shoppers or those that prioritise sustainability, back-to-school shopping is never easy, but with social proof messaging, you can help your customers shop with confidence.
