According to a 2014 survey of Canadian consumers: - 62% will purchase at least one back-to-school item online, a 176% increase from the previous year. 13% will purchase half of items online and 43% will purchase all items online. - 63% expect to spend the same or more on back-to-school items compared to the previous year. - The top influences on back-to-school purchases are children's preferences (44%), online ads/searches (28%), and print ads (14%). - Computers are the most common device for researching back-to-school purchases (42%), followed by tablets (12%) and smartphones (11%).

1. Canada, July 2014
will purchase at least
one back-to-school
item online
62%
13%43%
will purchase
at least half
of their items
online; a 176%
increase year-
over-year
will purchase
all items
online
expect to spend the same or more on back-to-school
items compared to last year63
35 37
28will spend more
will spend the same
will spend less
TOP INFLUENCES WHEN PURCHASING
back-to-schoolitems:
Children’s preferences
Other
Online ads/online searches
Print ads
TV Ads
44%
28%
14%
8%
6%
What’s the “go-to” device to research
back-to-school purchases?
As digital adoption becomes more prevalent, so too has online research habits. In 2013, 50%
said they would research back-to-school items online, while this year, 65% said they would. And
of those planning on researching online, tablet usage will increase 46% year-on-year.
42%
COMPUTERS
35%
DON’T RESEARCH
ONLINE
12%
TABLET
11%
SMARTPHONE
SOURCE: 369 respondents to online survey in Canada, May-June 2014; 283 respondents to online survey in Canada, July 2013
School may be out for summer, but parents are already
thinking about back-to-school shopping. Buying on digital will be
big this fall, and consumers expect to be spending big as well…