While smartphone usage continues to increase, only 2 percent of shoppers listed mobile as a resource when planning for back-to-school shopping, showing no increase from 2010. This was revealed in The Checkout, an ongoing shopper experience study currently underway by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research.
Though mobile usage may be stagnant, online research is seeing growth with 35 percent of shoppers citing the Internet as a back-to-school resource, up 6 percent from last year. Newspaper circulars top the list again with 43 percent of shoppers saying this is their preferred resource for back-to-school shopping.
"While mobile may not be top of mind for back-to-school shopping today, if marketers keep shoppers' needs in mind and effectively integrate mobile throughout the shopper continuum, mobile will only grow," said Ben Kennedy, group director of Mobile Marketing for The Integer Group.
When asked where they expect to make back-to-school purchases, the majority of shoppers said at mass/discount stores (29 percent). Office supply stores, department stores and grocery stores all follow behind. It also appears more shoppers plan to buy online, doubling from 2010 (now 6 percent). However, grocery (down 4 percent from 2010), clothing (down 1 percent) and drug stores (down 2 percent) might see a decline this season.
"As e-commerce sites like Amazon and Alice.com continue to market to moms and make it easier to order household items, it seems likely that it will take away from in-store purchases from neighborhood drug and grocery stores this back-to-school season," said Craig Elston, senior vice president of Insight & Strategy for Integer.
Data for The Checkout comes from a national survey conducted by Integer and M/A/R/C where consumers are asked about their shopping attitudes, shopping behaviors and economic outlook.
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