Back to School Shopping During a Pandemic: Meeting Families Where They’re At
Back to school shopping looks a bit different this year. Rather than the annual rush to find the perfect binders, backpacks, and sneakers, the COVID-19 virus has upended education. Masks are the new No. 2 pencils for in-person learning while virtual instruction leaves the “back to school” supply list open to interpretation.
What does this mean for retailers in the middle? It means they need to adapt.
In this guide we’ll take a look at how retailers are adjusting to meet families where they’re at, be that in new promotions, initiatives, partnerships, or projects.
Hurry Up And Wait!
For many retailers, summer has been a long waiting period as school districts devised and then revised plans for the fall 2020 semester.
Now that some schools have begun to solidify their plans, retailers have more information at their disposal for how to handle back to school shopping in their area.
This differs from state to state, county to county. So, instead of trying to predict exactly how these changes are going to unfold, let’s lean on a few certainties.
Expect A Compressed Season
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, what typically runs from June to late August has now been compressed to a matter of weeks. The shorter back to school shopping season means a variety of things for retailers.
Here’s what they can expect:
- Spending up. The National Retail Federation forecasts parents will spend an average $789.49 per family, topping the previous record of $696.70.
- Big ticket items. Seventy-two percent of students expected to study at home plan to buy a computer and/or home furnishings like a desk for virtual learning.
- Shifting shopping. “Half of K-12 shoppers (55 percent) say they will buy online, up from 49 percent last year,” the study reports.
- Less price checking. With in-person shopping discouraged, the NRF expects more people to skip their usual price shopping and buy all their goods from one outlet.
How Should Small Businesses Adjust for Pandemic Back to School Shopping?
If the aforementioned stats are any indication, retailers stand to make money this year even with the challenging circumstances. However, how they make that money (what type of good they sell) probably wont mirror last year’s trends.
Here are a few key differences retailers can expect.
- Allocation of inventory – The Washington Post reports that with muddled direction from school districts, big brand chains are at a loss on how to allocate products. Do they stock shelves with backpacks if schools decide to reopen? This could be a golden opportunity for agile small business retailers to adjust their own product lines accordingly.
- More spending online – Having an e-commerce site in addition to a brick-and-mortar used to be optional. Alas, COVID-19 has shaken up this dynamic. Now it’s becoming something of a requirement for survival as the data bears out. According to Yahoo News, in the last four months, 85,000 stores launched online businesses in the United Kingdom alone.
- A preview of holiday shopping – Retail forecasters predict that this fall’s back to school shopping will serve as a dress rehearsal for what can be expected of the holiday shopping season. Savvy small business owners would do well to craft some best practices in order to adapt to the shifting marketplace.
Meeting Families Where They Are
So how can a small business owner prepare and maximize what’s left of the back to school shopping season? Just as every product a store carries is different, so too are businesses and their regional markets.
Let’s take a look at what that data says:
The Touch, The Feel of Cotton
According to Sourcing Journal, the apparel industry needs to look to the “fabric of our lives” as its moneymaker this season. A 2020 Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey found that 78 percent of respondents wanted their children to be dressed in cotton because it’s comfortable. It goes without saying that we’re not really dressing to impress right now.
As distance learning discourages parents from investing in apparel, it might behoove small business boutiques to stock up on cotton fabrics for these reduced household budgets. Or, as a general note, retailers can focus on their comfort-first items.
The Home Office
After a spring spent trying to find a study space at home, parents are throwing up their hands and laying down the cash to invest in home learning spaces. Desks are in high demand with 17% of families saying furniture for students is in their spending plans according to the Dallas Morning News. Small furniture stores can capitalize on this demand with innovative designs for homes of all sizes.
It’s Electric
Not surprisingly, consumers are spending more money on computers this fall, but what might come as a shock is that headphones are equally in demand. The spike, reported in Tech Republic, is again thanks to having to learn at home. With parents trying to hold work Zoom meetings in one room and kids listening to teachers in the other, audio and noise canceling headphones are in high demand.
How and Where to Reach Customers
Even with the data above, some small business owners are still scratching their heads wondering how to reach customers in the midst of the back to school shopping whirl. What’s the best approach?
Billboard signs?
Social media?
And what does the messaging look like?
Here are some tips:
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Put empathy first – According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, parents are dealing with higher levels of stress than ever before. Thus, small businesses need to address their pain points. The tone needs to be empathetic. How can you speak on the utility of your product, directly showcasing how you can improve their quality of life during this trying time?
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Reiterate safety precautions – Before coming up with back to school deals and promos, small business owners should communicate shopping safety precautions to reassure customers that their health comes before a boost in sales. This will create trust on the customer side, further incentivizing them to make a purchase.
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Encourage shopping alternatives – Offering curbside delivery or online shopping gives families fearful of coronavirus a chance to spend their hard-earned money on the small businesses they love.
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Respond to feedback – With traditional channels of commerce disrupted, customer service is taking on a completely new look, but its importance remains the same. McKinsey.com says proactively preparing staff to handle calls, social media messages, email requests, and any other means of communication with care and confidence can pay dividends on the backend.
Best Tools For Reaching Customers
The pandemic has forever changed communication. For retailers to meet families where they are, they need to think like parents preparing for the 2020/21 school year in a pandemic.
Here’s where to find them:
Email Newsletters
Small businesses with robust email lists are at an advantage during the pandemic. Reaching out via email provides a direct way to share products and promotions with an audience of repeat customers.
Blogs
While e-commerce is a great way to increase sales, keeping shoppers’ attention via a blog can be just as important. A blog provides a built-in publishing platform to inform customers about news, health protocols, and upcoming sales.
Social Media
From TikTok to Twitter, more people at home means more people on social media—51% of U.S. adults are using it at higher rates than before, according to eMarketer.com. If you want to get their attention, establish accounts on the platforms your consumers frequent. Each platform offers a different advantage to meet customers:
- Instagram – Thanks to Shoppable posts, small business owners can now sell directly via Instagram posts.
- Twitter – Many retailers use Twitter to drive traffic back to their websites with promotional information and news about upcoming events and deals.
- Facebook – This social network is a place where retailers like to build customer loyalty and encourage customers to share reviews of products with friends.
Nextdoor
Unlike social media platforms, Nextdoor brings the community directly to the small business owner. Designed as a hyperlocal neighborhood hub made up of address-verified members, it’s a community where neighbors can give each other referrals, share news and updates, and promote and celebrate small businesses.
Rather than having to build a following like social media apps, Nextdoor allows small business owners to immediately meet and connect with their community. By creating a free Business Page, a small business can share its story and immediately begin to interact with the Nextdoor community at large—a quick and efficient way to interact with local customers and share back to school sales opportunities right where they are.
Want to meet families where they’re at? Start your Business Page today.
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Additional sources:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Reimagining back-to-school shopping in a pandemic. www.post-gazette.com/life/fashion/2020/08/10/Back-school-shopping-short-season-COVID-19-Macys-Kohls-Target-Amazon/stories/202008100001
National Retail Federation. Coronavirus could push back-to-school spending to record level as uncertain families gear up for at-home learning. nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/coronavirus-could-push-back-school-spending-record-level-uncertain
The Washington Post. Covid Is Shaking Up Back-to-School Shopping. www.washingtonpost.com/business/covid-is-shakingup-back-to-school-shopping/2020/07/27/819c42e6-d001-11ea-826b-cc394d824e35_story.html
Yahoo News. Coronavirus: Thousands of businesses launch online shops as lockdown creates digital economy boom. www.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-thousands-of-businesses-launch-online-shops-as-lockdown-creates-digital-economy-boom-082922515.html
Sourcing Journal. How Apparel Sellers Can Tackle Back-to-School Amid Mounting Uncertainty. https://sourcingjournal.com/topics/lifestyle-monitor/apparel-retail-back-to-school-coronavirus-covid-19-nrf-merkle-npd-221515/
Dallas Morning News. Pandemic back-to-school shopping list: paper, pencils, desk, electronics and, if parents work, a ‘teacher'. www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2020/07/27/pandemic-back-to-school-shopping-list-paper-pencils-desk-electronics-and-if-parents-work-a-teacher/
TechRepublic. Headphones and earphones sales to spike after earlier flat projections. www.techrepublic.com/article/headphones-and-earphones-sales-to-spike-after-earlier-flat-projections/
Science Daily. High stress related to coronavirus is the new normal for many parents, says new APA survey. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200521151919.htm
McKinsey.com. Connecting with customers in times of crisis. www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/connecting-with-customers-in-times-of-crisis#
eMarketer. Uptick in US Adults' Social Media Usage Will Likely Normalize Post-Pandemic. www.emarketer.com/content/uptick-us-adults-social-media-usage-will-likely-normalize-post-pandemic
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