Retailers Fight for a Slice of the $27 Billion Back-to-School Shopping Pie

Back-to-school can mean big bucks for retailers, but consumers have become more savvy in how they shop making the competition during the second-biggest shopping season of the year even more intense.

On the plus side for America's struggling retail chains, a new report from Deloitte shows that parents of students in grades K-12 plan to spend $27 billion or $501 per student during the ongoing back-to-school shopping season. That's about the same as last year, according to the 2017 Back-To-School Survey, which also noted that about 20% of where and how that money will be spent has yet-to-be decided.

"Retailers should aggressively pursue the 'undecided' consumer because they collectively represent nearly $5.4 billion this back-to-school shopping season," said Deloitte Chairman Rod Sides. "This segment is up for grabs but likely to go to retailers that draw customers in early with promotions and digital experiences that make store visits even more attractive, like inventory visibility, order tracking or buy online/pick up in store."

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Source: Fool.com