Anticipated Return of Back-to-School Shoppers to Brick-and-Mortar Stores, Accompanied by Spending Restraint

The stationery aisles are expected to be busier this year as parents and students return to in-store shopping when stocking up on back-to-school essentials, though their baskets may be a little less full.

The annual shopping ritual comes as rising costs for food and housing squeeze optional spending plans for many households.

A survey by the Retail Council of Canada found that about 73.6 per cent of back-to-school shoppers plan to spend more than $50 this year, down from about 77 per cent last year.

And while last year shoppers planned to spend the most on clothing, books and music and electronics, this year stationery is expected to be the top spending category, with 61 per cent saying that’s where they’ll direct the biggest chunk of their school shopping dollars.

Last year stationery didn’t even make it into the top 10 of categories in the survey, which polled more than 9,000 Canadian adults on Caddle Inc.’s mobile platform and online panel, which it says has a margin of error of one per cent or lower.

The results show that Canadians are being more cautious about spending, but still plan to buy what children need for school, said Michelle Wasylyshen, spokeswoman for the Retail Council.