Ninety seven percent of moms who plan on shopping for back-to-school supplies will look for sales, specials, 72% say price is no. 1 factor when shopping for the items, survey finds

Graziela Medina Shepnick

LEWISVILLE, Texas , August 12, 2011 (press release) – Back-to-school is back in season and retailers are gearing up for the growing group of deal-seeking consumers that are expected to hit their school supply shelves. In a survey recently completed by Parago, the nation's largest rebate provider, 97% of moms who plan on shopping for back-to-school supplies said they plan to look for sales or specials and 72% say price is the number one factor when shopping for the items. This number is up compared to a Parago survey completed earlier this year that found 67% of shoppers think the most important factor when shopping for everyday household items is price.

Rebate awareness has also increased among consumers today. According to mothers who plan on shopping for back-to-school supplies in 2011, 54% plan on looking for or purchasing back-to-school items that offer rebates this year. Of this same group, only 39% said they looked for or purchased items that offer rebates in previous years.

"Rebates have always been a great way to get an even deeper discount on items you're already purchasing, especially during the back-to-school season when we see many of our clients offer a larger number of rebates," stated Juli Spottiswood, President & CEO of Parago, which provides consumer rebate programs for many large retailers across the country. "Now that awareness about rebates is growing, many consumers are integrating rebate savings into their budgets to get more for less."

The back-to-school Parago survey also reported that 63% of moms shopping for school supplies this year will use coupons. Comparison shopping will also be popular, as 63% of moms said they plan on shopping in two to three stores for their back-to-school lists. According to recent PriceGrabber® survey data, 69% of consumers plan to shop online and use comparison shopping sites to save money, compared to only 23% who said they would in 2010. In addition, 41% of shoppers indicated that they will visit retailer websites to print out coupons, versus 33% last year.

Retailers have already stocked their back-to-school aisles for the $68 billion that is expected to flow from K-12 and college parents' pocketbooks in preparation for the upcoming school year, according to the National Retail Federation. This is an increase from the $55 billion spent in 2010 on back-to-school shopping. US families with children in grades K-12 are expected to spend an average of $603.63, just a few dollars short of last year's average of $606.40. According to Parago, 75% of mothers shopping for back-to-school supplies will spend about the same or more this year compared to 2010.

Mobile shopping will also play a significant role in how moms shop for back-to-school supplies this year. According to Nielsen findings, US smartphone users account for approximately 30% of the population and a recent survey by Greystripe® shows that 66% of smartphone-using moms indicated that their mobile device plays a role in shopping. Of these mobile shoppers, 45% said they use their smartphones to locate the nearest store locations, while 36% said they price compare with their mobile devices. Also, 57% of moms using smartphones reported using coupons every time they shop. In response to this growing demand for information on-the-go, Parago recently released an iPhone and Android mobile application, GoRebate Mobile, which allows consumers to find nearby rebates, track submitted rebate statuses and more. For information about GoRebate Mobile, visit http://www.gorebate.com/mobile-app/.

About Parago

Parago is the innovative provider of rewards-based incentive solutions that deploy technology to drive better results from consumers and customers alike. Parago provides a full range of consumer incentive and rebate programs to Fortune 500 companies, including customer acquisition and retention. Parago has distinguished itself in the rewards-based incentives field for more than ten years by consistent reinvention of legacy approaches, introducing 27 industry firsts and receiving three patents. For more information visit www.parago.com, the Parago blog or Twitter.

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