Back to School 2017

Back to School

Surprisingly to some Back to School is the second biggest seasonal shopping period of the year after Christmas. Retail ramped up the offers & instore experience to make this promotional period fun, interesting with some great deals & creative promotions.

Retail Gazette reported  “total sales rose 2.4 per cent as shoppers splashed out ahead of the new school term, compared to a 0.3 per cent decline in the same period last year which had been the poorest performance of 2016.”

So what can this sales increase be attributed to? Shopper engagement, Brand commitment, Retailer creativity?

With Don Williams, partner at KPMG saying “Retailers taught us a thing or two about ‘back to school’.

So what was happening in retail.

Store Windows

The summer sale windows moved over for Back to School with some fun & creative displays which are both price led & product led, enticing the shopper into store

Waterstones Chalk board inspired window

Frontier Field Marketing

Tyger backpack simple window

WHSmiths window poster offers

Office Outlet poster sites

Instore Events

All the Big 4 have gone for it wholeheartedly, running big store theatre events, with dedicated aisles, featuring bunting, bus-stops, signage, gondola end displays and all manner of promotional activity, while others have limited themselves to power aisles, or have simply used their normal seasonal items aisle to show school-related merchandise.

Office Outlet  – big Back to School promotion.

Tesco Instore Theatre bunting & header graphics

Morrisons instore Events aisle

ASDA “1 Shop School Shop” fun branded graphics.

Frontier Field Marketing

Branded fixture Ends relying on high footfall & eyecatching supporting graphics

Pukka Pads feature end, fun, creative from water bottles to calculators

Bic Pens end fixture.

Multi Branded FSDU – Brands coming together with bumper packs of back to school kits. Strength in numbers & big impact pallet displays, bold pricing front of store location.

Mixed brand off fixture units with combined bumper stationery packs

Oxford Press unit offering app technology

Out of the stationery category brands were seen to be getting in on the back to school action however there was not alot of cross promotions seen given the opportunities with this event.

AquafreshToothpaste Back to School Promotional site, keeping teeth clean for back to school

Soreen with lunch box inspiration

Sewing Kits at the ready

Frontier Field Marketing

Brands took the opportunity to be part of the promotional event.

Success,as always – come to those who plan – both sales and inventories, at a weekly, or even daily level, as well as discounts – to maximise volume opportunities during both periods, and perhaps start to apply the lessons learned from earlier peak periods…

Effective, enticing display, allied with high customer service standards, could be the answer.

Whats Next ….. Back to College