Retailers spruce up websites for back-to-school

After uninspiring sales in the first half of the year, retailers are hustling to salvage a back-to-school shopping season that has gotten off to a muted start.

Parents, worried about the economy and pressed for time, plan to spend less money and do more school-related shopping online, recent surveys show.

To chase elusive customers, many retailers are sprucing up their Web portals and offering special Internet deals.

For the first time, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is posting school uniforms on its online Classrooms by Wal-Mart database. The products are listed on lineups digitized by thousands of schools nationwide. Other school items bought via Wal-Mart’s website will be shipped free of charge, the chain said.

PHOTOS: How parents are spending

Target Corp.’s online uStyler tool helps students curate personalized looks and design virtual rooms that they can share on social media. And the Checklist option creates customized product recommendations that can be printed at home or at a Target registry kiosk.

Sears Holdings Corp. says it’s the first retailer to offer e-coupons — customized to loyalty club members’ style preferences and shopping habits — that are redeemable in stores, online and from a mobile device. Items bought online can be picked up, or shoppers can get car-side delivery by texting their parking spot number.

“Online’s on fire,” said Rodney Davenport, chief economist of Alliance Data Systems Corp., which conducted a back-to-school survey.

Consumers are expected to spend less to prepare for the fall semester, according to a survey released Thursday by the National Retail Federation.

Families with school-age children will shell out an average of $634.78 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics, down nearly 8% from a record high of $688.62 last year, the retail trade group says. College students and their parents will pay out $836.83 on average — a 7.8% slide from 2012. Total estimated back-to-school spending will reach $72.5 billion.

The average family is still stressed about the economy, with 80% of parents telling the retail group that it will affect their back-to-school spending. More than three-quarters of college shoppers said the same, with more than a third planning to buy generic or store-brand products and look for discounts.

The trade group found that 18.5% of parents plan to shop online more often. A report from NPD Group Inc. expects a 3% boost in online sales. A separate study from Alliance Data found that 71% of consumers will use their smartphones to compare prices or download coupons for back-to-school buying.

Nearly half of Alliance respondents said they plan to pay with a credit card rather than a debit card — a decision that helps with online buying and also often comes with more loyalty points and discounts.

But the bulk of consumers will continue to do their back-to-school shopping in stores rather than online, according to researchers. And many are getting a head start.

Roughly half of shoppers for K-12 students will launch their hunt three weeks to a month before school starts, while more than a third of college consumers said the same, according to the retail federation.

Already, though, nearly 3 in 10 households have begun browsing retailers’ selections, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers — the highest percentage of any year but one since 2004.

Retailers are using discounts and promotions to go after shoppers.

Wal-Mart shelves now feature more than 250 items of school supplies priced at less than $1. The chain expects to sell 42 million boxes of crayons during the season. Stores will set aside all relevant goods in a section dubbed Teacher’s Corner.

At Office Depot Inc. stores, there’s an exclusive collection of binders, pens and other back-to-school supplies featuring images of boy band One Direction and anti-bullying messages — each costing less than $10.

Old Navy, a division of Gap Inc., is discounting school uniforms and backpacks in its stores and running deals online. Macy’s Inc. is setting up events with Vogue, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and InStyle magazines to offer in-store style consultations, shopping parties, runway shows and makeovers. J.C. Penney Co. is giving out free customization kits with craft materials for each backpack or pair of shoes bought starting Aug. 1.

Target is furnishing free-standing, glass-enclosed Live Dorm Rooms on five college campuses, including UCLA, throughout August and September, enabling students a glimpse of its products in action. The chain is also continuing its long-standing tradition of busing incoming freshmen to after-hours shopping events at its stores.

Although shoppers are still price-conscious, some have what NPD analyst Marshal Cohen calls “frugality fatigue.”

“Instead of living on a tight budget every day, consumers are feeling a little more comfortable and confident,” Cohen said. “In a big change since the recession, parents are letting their kids have a say in what they want to buy.”

Santa Monica resident Kalika Yap, 43, spent $500 last week on clothing for her two daughters, ages 4 and 6.

The entrepreneur, who runs three companies, said she browsed deals online before shopping in bricks-and-mortar stores. Yap also frequents Pinterest, looking at posted images and occasionally buying items from the linked retailers.

“I’m not looking at catalogs as much — I’m just throwing them in the trash,” she said. “It’s just easier to go online.”

But unlike many of the parents surveyed by the National Retail Federation, Yap said she intends to spend more on her children’s clothing and supplies before they return to school this year.

“The economy’s definitely better,” she said. “It’s going to turn around in a big way — you can really feel it.”

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