Back to school

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Introduction
The 2020-2021 school year
For thousands of students and families across the U.S., going
back to school in September will be unlike any academic year
they have seen. After students of all ages spent the latter part of
the 2019-2020 school year in virtual classrooms due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide quarantine, districts and
universities are working rapidly to develop new protocols that
will allow their students to safely return to in-school learning
this Fall.
Rakuten Advertising wanted to learn more about how families
across the country are feeling about the upcoming school year.
A brief online survey was fielded in June 2020, resulting in 779
respondents from the U.S. It measured key groups: consumers
with grade school, high school, or college age students, and
included consumers with one or more students in multiple
categories. For the purposes of this study, we refer to
respondents as parents.

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Survey Respondent Demographics

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Parental Sentiment
Summer 2020

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COVID-19 Pandemic
How families were impacted financially

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Top Products on Back to School Shopping Lists
Grade school and/or high school students: College/university students:
Tissues, hand sanitizers and face masks beat traditional
back to school items such as notebooks and glue sticks as
the most important to buy before children return to
grade/high school.
Tissues, hand sanitizers and face masks beat out
technology and traditional back to school items such as
backpacks and notebooks as items felt to be the most
important to buy before students head to college.

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Shopping Budgets Vary by Age Group
Grade school and/or high school students: College/university students:

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Shopping Behaviors Span Online and Offline
Grade school and/or high school students: College/university students:

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Key Takeaways
Back to School 2020 US Consumer Survey
• There is uncertainty around students returning to in-school instruction
– Over 50% of all grade school and high school shoppers were still unclear at the end of June as to how school
would be conducted in the Fall.
• College students are split between in-person and online
– 34% of back to college shoppers are not experiencing any changes to the start of the school year, and 32%
of back to college shoppers have students attending online classes rather than in-person classes.
• Families are feeling the financial impact of the pandemic
– 78% of parents have experienced some financial hardship due to COVID-19
• Shopping will occur at the end of summer, except in the Southeast
– While August is when the majority of parents conduct their back to school shopping for all students,
parents in the Southeast over indexed for starting their shopping in July.
• Those who are shopping are also thinking ahead to the holidays
– Over 60% of all back to school shoppers are also browsing for holiday gifts, and over 35% shoppers are buying
at the same time.

10. © 2020 Rakuten Advertising. © 2020 Rakuten Advertising
About Rakuten Advertising
Rakuten Advertising connects leading agencies, brands and publishers to active and engaged consumers around
the world. With access to Rakuten’s diverse media properties and audiences, combined with an award-winning
performance network and proprietary consumer research, Rakuten Advertising creates the right conditions to
reach new customers and sustain long-lasting loyalty. Its foundation of advanced technology, data and strategic
services positions Rakuten Advertising to offer a differentiated suite of marketing and advertising solutions, while
constantly pushing the industry forward. It is a division of Rakuten Inc. (4755: TOKYO), one of the world’s leading
Internet service companies. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices throughout EMEA,
APAC, LATAM and North America. Learn more at .