New poll shows close to 40% of Canadians haven't started back-to-school shopping

USA - English

• USA - English

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Aug. 22, 2013 /CNW/ - Many Canadians will wait until the last minute to shop for back to school according to a new poll released today by Walmart Canada. As of mid-August, only 61% of shoppers had started back-to-school shopping .  According to the nationwide survey the average customer will do the bulk of their shopping closer to the first day of school and in the three weeks following the start of school.

The poll also showed that the average Canadian makes five separate shopping trips over the eight weeks leading up to the new school year, and this year Canadians will spend an average of $449 on back to school compared to $391 last year.

"We used to think back-to-school shopping stopped once school began," said Lee Tappenden, chief merchandising officer for Walmart Canada. "In fact, there is an increase in back-to-school shopping the first week of school, and mom will continue to shop for school well into September."

The most common back-to-school purchases are stationery (71%), food and grocery items (56%), apparel and footwear (56%), computers and peripherals (35%), cosmetics and beauty aids (34%), home furnishings (27%), and cell phones, smartphones and tablets (23%).

Back to school shopping by the numbers:

• 1-5-8 is the magic number - one mom will make five trips over eight weeks
  
  
• 33% of consumers intend to shop for back to school this year, with over half (61%) having already started their shopping
  
  
• Shoppers plan to spend $449 on average
  
  
• The most common back to school purchases are: stationery (71%), food and grocery items (56%), apparel and footwear (56%), computers and peripherals (35%), cosmetics and beauty aids (34%), home furnishings (27%), and cell phones, smartphones and tablets (23%)
  
  
• The top 10 stationery items are: refill paper, notebooks, exercise books, markers, crayons, report covers, pencils, coloured pencils, glue sticks and combination locks
  
  
• Walmart Canada conducts over 140,000 price checks each week across the retail industry

*Back to School Trend Survey
Conducted by Research Management Group for Walmart Canada, the online survey of 109 shoppers has a margin of error of +/- 4.09 per cent. Respondents were recruited from the AskingCanadians national panel to quotas representing primary household shoppers by region, gender and age to reflect the national profile. Note that like the primary household shopper profile the sample is 70 per cent female and 30 per cent male. Fieldwork timing was from August 12 and August 16, 2013.

About Walmart Canada
Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 380 locations nationwide including 217 Supercentres. The retailer serves more than one million customers each day, and its online store, www.walmart.ca, is visited by over 250,000 Canadians daily. With over 95,000 associates, Walmart Canada is one of Canada's largest employers and is recognized by Waterstone Human Capital as having one of Canada's top 10 corporate cultures. Walmart Canada's community giving program is focused on helping Canadian families in need. Since 1994, Walmart has donated and raised more than $180 million to Canadian charities and not-for-profit organizations. Additional company information can be found at walmartcanada.ca, facebook.com/walmartcanada and at twitter.com/@walmartcanada.

SOURCE: Walmart Canada