As summer winds down, two major events loom on the horizon for parents: Back to School and Halloween. Our latest Retail Occasions insight series reveals how parents are approaching these shopping seasons with a focus on sustainability, reusability, and DIY.

Back to School: More Than Just Uniforms

While uniforms often take the biggest chunk of the budget, they’re not the whole story:

  • 57% of Back to School budgets go towards sports items, accessories, books, and stationery.
  • Parents are shopping early, with many starting as early as two months before school starts.
  • Quality is the top priority when choosing retailers.

Sustainable Choices

Parents are increasingly making eco-friendly decisions:

  • 37% bought at least one second-hand school item.
  • Many prefer items that can be used for multiple years, like stationery, backpacks, and accessories.

Shopping Habits

  • In-store shopping is preferred for the range of products and research opportunities.
  • High street shops and malls are popular destinations.
  • 50% of parents visit stores to research before purchasing (up 6% from last year).

Halloween: Spooky and Sustainable

Halloween shopping shows similar trends towards sustainability:

  • 36% reuse decorations from previous years.
  • 31% reuse costumes.
  • 1 in 5 make their own decorations.
  • Sustainability as a priority has grown 5% compared to last year.

Halloween Shopping Habits

  • Costume shopping often happens in the week leading up to Halloween.
  • High street shops and malls are also popular for Halloween purchases.
  • 64% of shoppers buy costumes on promotion.

Tips for Brands

To capture parents’ attention during these busy shopping seasons:

  1. Start early: Refresh consumers’ memory about your brand and products and carefully think out your supermarket advertising ideas
  2. Use Out of Home (OOH) advertising: Leverage real-world retail environments.
  3. Focus on quality and sustainability: Highlight durable, reusable products.
  4. Offer promotions: Especially for last-minute Halloween shoppers.
  5. Create bundles: Tempt impulse buyers with packaged deals using bespoke adshel & adshel bus shelter adverts.

By understanding these trends, brands can better position themselves to meet the needs of cost-conscious, sustainability-minded parents during the Back to School and Halloween seasons.

Source: GlobalData, Back to School and Halloween Retail Occasions 2023