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Back to School

NRF has been conducting its annual back-to-school and back-to-college surveys since 2003 with Prosper Insights & Analytics to see how American families will shop for clothing, supplies and other items for the next school year. Check out the resources below for a deep dive into the 2022 back-to-class season.

Back-to-school trends

Spending on essentials remained strong, plus other insights on how inflation shaped consumers’ shopping plans.

Back to school
 
woman shopping
 
2022 Retail overview

From consumer behavior to year-over-year inflation and shopping habits, the NRF dove deeper into the state of retail and its future.

2022 Back-to-school trends

Hear from NRF’s VP of Research Mark Mathews and Senior Director for Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen as they discussed expectations for the back-to-school season. Learn more in the webinar slides.

Back to school
 
Families prioritized back-to-school spending amidst inflation

As inflation continued to rise, one-third of consumers (38%) said they cut back in other spending areas to cover the cost of items for the school year in 2022.

How students geared up to go back to classes in 2022

Expecting higher prices, consumers changed their shopping behavior. Read more below for a look at the ways back-to-school and back-to-college shoppers navigated higher prices as students geared up for the school year.

girl standing outside with a backpack and school books in her hands
 
 
Back-to-Class Data Center

Take a deep dive into the NRF Back-to-Class Data Center to learn more about school shopping consumer trends.

 
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Historical highlights

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

More consumer trends

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3 ways consumers are making Valentine’s Day 2023 special
 
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