Study: Back-to-school shopping not so cool

DENVER — Whatever the cool kids (and their families) are doing this summer, back-to-school shopping does not appear to be on the agenda.

An ongoing shopper behavior study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research shows that retailers will continue to see the number of back-to-school shoppers in their stores drop.

In 2014, the data showed 36% of shoppers would not be shopping back-to-school, and this year the study is showing a 7% increase in those not shopping for back-to-school.

The biggest decrease in shoppers from 2014 comes from African-American and Hispanic shoppers, with 36% of African-American and 26% of Hispanic shoppers reporting they will not be shopping for back-to-school this year. The overall decrease in back-to-school shoppers might also be linked to the 31% of shoppers surveyed who indicated they did not have any children in their household.

Additional findings include:

• 
  48% of 18- to 24-year-olds reported they plan to shop online, compared to 33% of others.


• 
  47% of millennials shop at the last minute.


• 
  62% of shoppers start planning at least one month in advance.


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  64% of those shopping report they plan on shopping at mass retailers like Walmart and Target.