News

Back-to-school sales are up but spend not as high as last year

August 23, 2016

Good news for retailers as back-to-school sales grab traction: Sales are rebounding this year following sluggish growth in the past three years.

Spending in July 2016 was up 2 percent compared to a 1 percent bump last summer, according to a release on First Data’s Back-to-school SpendTrend report. However the average ticket spend last month was $63.81, a two-dollar dip from July, 2015.

The better news is that data from the first week of August appears to be on an upward trend to beat last year's figures.

"The first week of August saw an increase in sales across the board, but overall sales growth is higher in states that do not provide tax-free weekends. Except when it comes to clothing & accessories," stated the release.