The 2024 back-to-school shopping season is in full swing, and there’s a major force impacting traditional back-to-school categories: the use of technology in classrooms. Students may have left distance learning back in 2020, but the ongoing impact of digital acceleration in the classroom is evident in the types of supplies families are tossing—and not tossing—in their back-to-school baskets. Read on to learn more about how technology is reshaping classrooms, and how brands can rethink their back-to-school strategies in this new era.
Technology Takeover in Classrooms
How many K-12 students are using computers and tablets in school?
According to our latest survey of guardians who had children in K-12 last school year, nearly 90% of students incorporated computer or tablet use in the classroom and 80% used tech at home for school-related purposes. These numbers varied by grade, with younger students less likely to use technology for school work overall. However, even children in grades K-2 were using technology for school work at high levels—82% in the classroom and 60% at home.
Understanding the technology used by students both in and out of the classroom is important for brands looking to offer supplementary or complementary products. Overall, 69% of students in K-12 last year did schoolwork on a computer and 47% used a tablet, according to parents. Computers were more widely used than tablets across all grade levels except for K-2, where tablets outpaced computers 54% to 51%.
Traditional School Supply Trends
How has classroom technology influenced the need for traditional school supplies?
Technology adoption has noticeably impacted traditional school supply needs. Our survey shows that last school year, 53% of students used computers or tablets to complete homework, 50% for in-class activities, and 31% to read e-books or digital textbooks. Additionally, 29% of high school students used their tech to take notes during class. All of these activities decrease the need for traditional school supplies like notebooks and pencils for note-taking or folders for transporting physical homework and worksheets.
These trends are reflected in purchasing data, where traditional back-to-school staples have seen declining volume year-over-year. Paper and paper-adjacent categories like notebooks, looseleaf, writing supplies and folders in particular are driving this decline, with many remaining below pre-pandemic levels during the traditional back-to-school shopping season, even as children returned to classrooms.
While the overall number of households purchasing these products has remained relatively stable, households are purchasing fewer items in each category. For example, during the 2019 back-to-school shopping season, households with children purchased an average of seven notebooks—in 2023, a similar number of households purchased notebooks, but they only purchased five.
The sustained levels of households buying shows that despite quantity declines, traditional school supplies are still necessities for most American families. Additionally, overall dollar sales and household spending continue to rise, a reflection of both inflation and families investing in higher-priced items like backpacks. This means that the portion of back-to-school budgets previously reserved for notebooks, folders and pencils may be up for grabs for brands with compelling new offerings.
Taking Note: A “Five Star” Approach to Notebook Sales
What can back-to-school brands learn from Five Star notebooks?
A mini case study on the notebook category reveals a lot about the potential future of school supplies. While overall category volume declined 25% from 2019 to 2023, category-leader Five Star was one of the few brands to see increased volume, up 26% in the same period. Five Star has consistently held the top share of the back-to-school notebook category, but their success in the past few years helped grow their lead to 27.5% category share in 2023, up 4.7 points from 2019.
So, how’d they do it? In 2020, they introduced the Five Star Study App along with a line of notebooks featuring QR codes and custom layouts that allowed students to easily photograph and digitize their physical notes. By 2023, their “Notebook Plus Study App” offerings accounted for roughly a fifth of the brand’s overall notebook sales. It’s too soon to say whether Five Star’s study app will stand the test of time, but their success in the past few years serves as a lesson for fellow back-to-school brands: innovate and embrace technology. Students appear willing to try out new technologies, especially those aimed at helping them bridge the gap between traditional schoolwork and digital learning.
Online Learning Meets Online Shopping
How much back-to-school shopping happens online?
As students embrace tech-forward learning, guardians are also embracing tech-forward back-to-school shopping. Online retailers have consistently increased their share of traditional school supply sales over the past five years, growing from 22.7% in 2019 to 37% in 2023. The big three—Walmart, Amazon and Target—continue to dominate the back-to-school market, with Amazon overtaking Target for the first time in 2023. Despite Amazon’s growth, Walmart and Target have mostly maintained their share of the market, with most of Amazon’s growth coming from retailers like Office Depot, Staples and Costco.
Sale events also play into retailer choice for back-to-school. Over half (52%) of guardians say getting back-to-school items for the best price possible is their top priority, and 69% say they shop during sale events to save money. This was evident during last month’s Prime Day sale, where office supplies saw some of the biggest year-over-year growth among shoppers participating in the sale.
Gen Alpha Hits High School
How will Gen Alpha shape the future of back-to-school?
It might be hard to believe, but the oldest members of Gen Alpha—the most tech-savvy generation to-date—are already walking the halls of some high schools, meaning it’s time for brands to understand this generation. In another Numerator survey fielded to guardians with children entering K-12 this upcoming school year, nearly 83% said their children were somewhat or very involved in picking out their back-to-school items.
Millennials may look back fondly on the days of matching their folders, notebooks and book covers for each class, but times are changing. The oldest Gen A’s were born in 2010, the same year Apple released the first iPad, meaning members of this generation have never lived in a world without smartphones, tablets or personal computers. Today’s students are less likely to share their parent’s nostalgia for the smell of a fresh notebook, but they’ll still be looking for ways to usher in a new school year and express themselves through the things they carry into the classroom.
Making the Grade
How can back-to-school brands future-proof their offerings?
Back-to-school brands who focus on working with technology, rather than fighting against it, will be most adept in navigating the new classroom. Established brands already serving the back-to-school space have a unique opportunity to build on historical success and consumer trust with new product innovations, while emerging brands have a chance to get their foot in the school door as the new hybrid landscape continues to take shape. For more information on how your business can think about this topic, reach out to your Numerator representative or reach out to our team today.
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*Methodology: Unless otherwise noted, all back-to-school data focuses on the July 1 through September 31 time period and is limited to households with children.
