Here’s how consumers will conduct back-to-school shopping

Most back-to-school shoppers will visit stores.

A new survey provides insight into the habits of shoppers during the 2024 back-to-school season.

According to the “2024 U.S. Back-to-School Consumer Sentiment Survey” from Sensormatic Solutions, the global retail solutions portfolio of  Johnson Controls, 74% of surveyed consumers plan to conduct their back-to-school shopping in-store, remaining the top choice for shoppers year-over-year.

[READ MORE: JLL: Back-to-school shopping to rise nearly 22%; physical stores most popular option]

In addition, 43% of respondents say they will utilize “buy online, pick up in-store” (BOPIS) for back-to-school purchases (compared to 34% in 2023) and 25% say they will utilize curbside pickup (compared to 19% in 2023).

Respondents planned to start back-to-school shopping early, with 18% saying they intended to start shopping in June (an increase from 11% in 2023). However, August is still expected to be the busiest month for back-to-school shopping in the U.S., according to Sensormatic traffic insights.

The survey also highlighted the main factors impacting back-to-school shopping behavior:

• Security: Forty-four percent of respondents said that being safe and comfortable in store environments is one of the most important factors they consider when choosing a retail location.
• Price: Three in four respondents consider price a crucial factor when shopping in-store, with one in thee (34%) planning to spend significantly less than in previous years due to the state of the economy. Strategies respondents plan to use to manage budgets include reusing supplies from prior years (51%).