Majority of Students Look Forward to New School Year, Staples Canada Survey Shows

TORONTO, Aug. 2, 2013 /CNW/ - Two out of three students appreciate the back-to-school season and look forward to the new school year, according to a recent survey. In fact, the survey shows that students more than parents or teachers lead the way in appreciating the back-to-school season. The first Staples Back-to-School Annual Study provides a benchmark on the attitudes, opinions and behaviours on the back-to-school season in Canada.

The survey shows that 80 per cent of back-to-school shoppers who find the season to be stressful believe that lists contribute to the stress level, whereas 72 per cent believe the same for the in-store experience.

"At Staples, we focus on product selection, well-organized stores and customer service to make shopping easy for customers during the emotional back-to-school season," said Steve Matyas, president of Staples Canada. "We're proud that Canadians trust us and know that we've got their 'lists' covered with everything they need for back to school."

Other interesting revelations include:

• Shoppers in the Atlantic provinces are more likely to shop for supplies in June (51 per cent) versus Quebecers (28 per cent)
• Although Maritimers seem to welcome early back-to-school shopping, they are the most likely to find the season stressful (67 per cent) as opposed to only 41 per cent of Ontarians
• Sixty five per cent of students look forward to the back-to-school season, while just under half of teachers do (46 per cent) and just over half for parents (54 per cent)
• Forty four per cent of Canadian back-to-school shoppers would prefer to have more online resources made available to them
• Eighty two per cent of Ontarians prefer to make their own lists compared to only 59 per cent in the Prairie provinces
• Sixty nine per cent of Albertans purport looking forward to the back-to-school season whereas only 42 per cent of Quebecers say they do
• Shoppers in British Columbia are the least inclined to bring their children along for school shopping (55 per cent) whereas consumers from the Prairies are the most inclined (72 per cent)
• Seventy per cent of Canadian back-to-school shoppers state that having an established budget is important to them

The complete inaugural Staples Back-to-School Annual Study is available at http://blog.staples.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Table_BTS-july2013-BTS_bothdocs.pdf.

Staples Canada is the official leader in back-to-school in Canada in terms of sales and product selection. The company transforms its network of more than 330 stores into veritable back-to-school boutiques and trains in-store personnel for the season.

For more information on Staples Canada and its back-to-school program, visit: www.staples.ca.

Follow the conversation on Twitter @StaplesCanada #GoingBack

Methodology
From July 18-20, 2013, Vision Critical conducted an online survey among 2,502 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists, including 775 back-to-school shoppers. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada.

About Staples Canada
Staples, Canada's largest office products company is committed to providing Canadians with a wide choice of office services and products. Serving all types of business - from the small home office to large enterprise - Staples makes it easy for customers to operate their offices efficiently and affordably by offering an extensive selection of office supplies, technology, electronics and office furniture as well as business services, including computer repair and maintenance, and copy and print services. Operating as Bureau en GrosMC in the province of Quebec and Staples Canada in all other provinces, the company employs over 15,000 associates at 330+ stores and at their head office in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Ranked as one of Canada's top ten Canadian companies in Marketing Magazine's Marketing/Leger 2011 Corporate Reputation Survey, Staples/Bureau en Gros is dedicated to offering customers the highest level of service, whether they choose to shop in-store, by catalogue or online. Staples Canada/Bureau en Gros also is invested in a number of corporate giving programs that actively support environmental, educational and entrepreneurial initiatives in Canadian communities from coast to coast. Visit www.staples.ca for more information, or visit us on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE: Staples Canada Inc.