Driven by increased demand for electronic items and parents’ need to restock their children’s school supplies, families this summer will spend slightly more on back-to-school items than last year, according to National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2014 Back-to-School Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

The average family with children in grades K-12 will spend $669.28 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics, up 5% from $634.78 last year. Total spending on back to school will drop slightly to $26.5 billion as the survey found there are slightly fewer students in households this summer.

Combined spending for back to school and college is expected to reach $74.9 billion.

“Slow improvements in the economy may have contributed to the growth in confidence among back-to-school shoppers, and while we are encouraged by the overall tone of the results and expect to see continued improvement in consumer spending through the year, we know Americans are still grappling with their purchase decisions every day,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Throughout the history of this survey, spending has fluctuated based on family needs each year, and this summer, we expect parents to continue to use caution, but also make smart decisions for their family budget that is a good balance between what their children ‘want’ and what they actually need.”  

For the first time, NRF asked school shoppers about their plans to shop at local/small businesses for their needs and found that 17.4% will support local/small retail to buy school items.

NRF this year broke out spending by grade, and according to the survey, families with high school students will spend the most. The survey found the average family shopping for high school students will spend $682.99, while spending on middle school/junior high comes in a close second at $682.13. Parents with elementary-school-age children will spend an average of $580.94.

Overall, every category will see an increase in spending, including healthy increases in average spend on supplies and electronics. Back-to-school shoppers will spend an average $212.35 on electronic items, up 7% from $199.05 last year, with total spend expected to reach $8.4 billion. High school students and their families specifically will spend an average $229.88 on electronic items.

Perhaps due to school districts’ growing requests for classroom supply contributions, spending on school supplies will increase 12% to an average of $101.18, compared to $90.49 last year. Additionally, shoppers will spend an average of $231.30 on clothes, up from $230.85, and $124.46 on shoes, up from $114.39 in 2013.

As seen in recent years, early-bird shoppers are once again leading the charge for school shopping. One-quarter (25.4%) will take advantage of retailers’ late summer deals and shop one to two weeks before school, up from 21.8% last year; one in five (22.5%) will shop at least two months before school starts, and another 44.5% will shop three weeks to one month before school starts. Additionally, 4.3% will shop the week school starts, and 3.4% will start after the start of the school year.

There’s no question that today’s millennial high school students are unique in many ways, and when it comes to shopping, these kids want to make sure they are a part of their parents’ buying decisions. According to the survey, teenagers are planning to spend $913 million of their own money on school items, with the average 13- to 17-year-old planning to spend an average of $34.40, up from $30.13 last year. Pre-teens will spend an average $22.27 of their own money, totaling $544 million.

And, when it comes to the influence these students have on their parents’ purchasing decisions, the evidence is indisputable. The survey found 9.7% of parents admit their child influences 100 percent of what they buy for back to school, up from 7.6% of parents last year and the highest in the survey’s history. Broken out by grade, 12.4% of parents with high school students say 100 percent of their purchases are influenced by their teenagers. More than a third of parents (34.8%) say at least half of their back-to-school purchases are influenced by their children.

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