With summer vacation coming to an end, marketers are planning for the 2022-23 back-to-school (BTS) season. Students, parents, and teachers are gearing up to resume school-year routines. This presents a lucrative opportunity for brands to reconnect with consumers and tackle challenges associated with inflation, supply chain, and transformed shopping habits.

Importance of BTS season for brands

During the BTS season, U.S. retail sales are anticipated to grow 7.5% compared to 2021. According to a MasterCard report, 7.5% growth in shopping is anticipated for the upcoming school year, with 4.3% growth for online brands. Online shopping for school supplies is similar to 2021 trends indicating that even though there is growing comfort with the return to in-person shopping, online is here to stay. 

Catering to consumer needs

A vital part of any brand’s strategy is understanding its audience. In the past, brands had to appeal to parents of students during the back-to-school season. Today, however, buying power is shifting to younger generations who are comfortable interacting online with brands and have their own opinions, standards, and expectations. Prices and value are the key factors for BTS consumers as about 43% of consumers planning a purchase during this season wait for big sales and discounts to complete their purchase.

3 ways brands can boost their online sales

According to research, promotions and discounts are high motivators for about 35% of BTS consumers. Thus, brands must consider these tools while planning their marketing strategy to boost sales and conversions during the BTS season:

  1. Coupons: Consumer purchases are influenced by product pricing, and consumers are often looking for the best deals online. About 59% of consumers check coupon websites before making a purchase. Additionally, online shopping trends indicate that consumers who use coupons spend up to 24% more than those that don’t. Digital coupons can also be effective marketing tools to grow social media.
  1. Promo Codes: Promo codes are faster than downloading a coupon, thus making the purchase journey quicker and seamless. They offer consumers that extra nudge to purchase the products they have eyed for a while at a better price from your brand. Thus, promo codes are a great tool to increase revenue and conversions.
  1. Personalized Messages: With various methods to reach high-intent consumers like social media platforms and emails, brands have numerous opportunities to personalize marketing messages. Using consumer data, buyer personas, and behavioral analysis, marketers can create personalized experiences and messages for their consumers. The benefits of personalized marketing include:
  • Increased conversion rates
  • A better understanding of consumers
  • Consumer engagement and feedback
  • Social sharing and brand affinity
  • Lead nurturing
  • Consumer retention
  • Higher revenue

With the back-to-school shopping season looming, how can brands use coupons, promo codes, and personalized marketing effectively to make the most of the sale? The answer is SitePlug. 

Partnering with SitePlug will enable brands to get online consumers’ attention and drive conversions through sales. To assist consumers on their purchase journeys, SitePlug offers Site Discover, an easy plug-and-play solution. Through partnerships with over 10,000+ publishers, Site Discover nudges consumers to purchase through ‘buy now’ widgets, coupons, promo codes, email inserts, banners, and native integrations. Thus, encouraging the consumer to purchase a product with data-backed insights and call-to-action buttons.

References:

  1. https://www.mastercard.com/news/press/2022/june/mastercard-spendingpulse-forecasts-7-5-growth-for-u-s-back-to-school-retail-sales/
  2. https://morningconsult.com/2022/05/19/back-to-school-shopping-economic-uncertainty/
  3. https://www.inmobi.com/blog/2022/05/06/back-to-school-shopping-trends-2022
  4. https://www.inmar.com/blog/press/digital-coupons-take-number-one-spot-redemption-methods-first-time-ever-their-use