Google has shared some search trends for back to school shoppers using the search engine for their shopping needs. The company finds that this is the earliest back to school shopping season on record, and its Google Shopping data shows One Direction supplies are very popular items this year.
According to Google, most of users’ back to school research will be complete by the end of July, and searches for “Back to School Sales” started trending two weeks earlier this year than last year.
“While just a small group of consumers have started to make purchases already, the momentum will pick up quickly toward the end of the month,” says Google sales development manager Jacalyn Stolt. “Just over a third of online shoppers will use their smartphones as an on-the-go tool to help make shopping easier. Of these, the 66% will use their smartphone to locate a retailer nearby, 64% will compare prices, and 43% will search for store item availability.”
According to Google, over 60% of shoppers will begin their shopping online, and most say that online research will have “a notable impact” on their in-store purchase decisions.
Among the top trending back to school searches on Google Shopping are: One Direction School Supplies, Messenger bags, North Face school backpacks, Personalized school supplies and Nike Free 5.0 kids.
Google also found that shoppers for high school students expect to spend about $347 on average, while people shopping for college expect to spend nearly double that at $614 on average. Google also shares some top trending searches for dorm decorations: Pink dorm bedding, Dorm chandelier, Big Joe bean bag chair, Calendar wall decals and String lights.
“Back to school shoppers are price conscious and are looking for deals, with 94% of shoppers saying that a promotion or sale would persuade them to purchase a product,” says Stolt. “We found that people are more sale conscious when buying consumer electronics than other school supplies. Consumer electronics shoppers were more likely to make a purchase if there was a back to school promotion, free shipping offer, or one day sale. Brands like Dell are promoting deals of the day and in-store pickup in Google search ads to help shoppers with their back to school shopping.”
Interestingly, Google says 73% of shoppers who watch online videos for back to school shopping are looking for product reviews from “people like me,” and the company found that four in ten shoppers visited a store online or in person as a direct result of watching apparel videos. Back to school shopping searches on YouTube, which spike every year in August, have doubled from last year. Popular searches on YouTube include: room tour, school supplies, school makeup tutorial and haul videos. In just the past week, over 205,000 haul videos have been posted to YouTube.
Lead image: One Direction (Facebook)
