News

Cardlytics releases back-to-school 'report card'

September 10, 2013

Cardlytics, specialists in card-linked marketing, has announced the results of its "2013 Back-to-School Shopping Report Card," an analysis of 70 percent of household spending in America based on data gleaned from 400 banks, including Bank of America, PNC and Regions Bank.

According to Cardlytics, the recent back-to-school season showed a significant increase in surprising purchases not typically associated with traditional school supplies.

For households with college students, predictable spending rises were seen in areas such as furniture, rental trucks and transportation for moving into a new dorm room or apartment, the news release said. Other trends included:

• increased spending on dating services — with the nest emptying again, single parents were able to get back to the dating scene;
• Increased magazine purchases — it seems that parents were able to get back to guilty pleasures such as People and National Inquirer with students away at college.

Cardlytics also looked into back-to-school spending as it applied generally to households with students. There was the expected uptick in spending on school items at office supply stores, including pens, binders, rulers, and folders, as well as on shoes from back-to-school footwear outlets. Surprisingly however, there was also an increase in vision center purchases, the release said.

Households with elementary and high school students saw an increase in pizza purchases, perhaps due to a lack of time to cook while adjusting to a new schedule, and parents enjoyed a bit of freedom on the golf course, as golf purchases also increased in households with children.

"Drawing on extensive data from our banking partners, we are able to determine what American shoppers purchase during peak shopping seasons such as the back-to-school rush. This applies to other seasonal periods as well, such as Valentine's Day, Spring Break and the Christmas holidays," said Scott Grimes, CEO of Cardlytics. "This is a great advantage for our advertisers as we can anticipate the kinds of deals likely to appeal to certain consumers at various times throughout the year."

Read more about consumer behavior.