What Matters to Parents When Buying Back To School Supplies

We surveyed 300 parents on their back-to-school shopping habits.

When we asked parents to rank what matters most when shopping for school supplies, price of products remain the biggest consideration, with 40% ranking it at as the top factor. Product quality is a close second at 35%, and their child’s preference comes in third at 11%.

Most of our survey respondents do their back-to-school shopping both online and in-store; however, 16% buy exclusively in brick-and-mortar stores. For these consumers who don’t make online purchases, the top three reasons are wanting to experience the items in person, a reluctance to pay delivery fees, and having kids who like going to the shops to get their back-to-school supplies; and 15% are concerned about online scams/fraud.

The most commonly cited frustrations encountered in back-to-school shopping are the cost of items – especially with some finding their finances stretched so soon after Christmas, lack of stock availability – often resulting in expending extra time and effort to visit many different outlets to get everything, and crowded stores – which mean having to deal with queues and waiting. It would seem that many parents of schoolkids would appreciate having an affordable one-stop shop that is constantly well-stocked with a variety of items and sizes.

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We asked shoppers to what degree their kids influence their back-to-school buying decisions in clothing/footwear, school supplies, and groceries for packed lunches overall. 35% said the children have a strong influence, 57% said there is some influence, while 8% said there is no influence at all.

In terms of breakfast, unsurprisingly cereal is by far the front-runner for breakfast, with three quarters saying it’s something that’s very likely to be eaten. Fresh fruit, oats, yoghurt, and eggs follow – with a third of our respondents reporting their children tuck into these in the mornings as a regular option.

Meanwhile, sandwiches/rolls/wraps and fresh fruits are a staple for children’s packed lunches, and for branded snacks, the brands most frequently found in kids’ lunchboxes are Arnott’s, Smith’s, Uncle Tobys, Kellogg’s, and supermarket brands (eg Woolworths or Coles own brands).

As for a quick before-school or after-school snack, 41% of respondents go to a supermarket (Woolworths, Coles, IGA, ALDI), 14% get something from a fast-food outlet, 13% from a bakery, 9% would go to a convenience store or milk bar and 4% to a café.

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