Stay ahead of the curve and future-proof your business with Mintel’s UK Back-to-School Market Report 2023. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, the latest market research, trends and consumer behaviours affecting your business. Get a 360° view of the back-to-school retail market, including market size, share and forecasted growth to help you align your business strategy with the needs of your audience.
Below, we’ve handpicked the key insights analysed in the full report and summarised the core topics.
Topics Analysed in this Report
- Analysis of the back-to-school market size.
- The impact of the cost of living on the back-to-school demand in 2023
- Explore what was purchased for back to school and how those items were purchased.
- Sustainable and savvy shopping behaviours in the back-to-school retail market.
- Innovations and launches in the back-to-school retail market.
Back-to-School Market Overview
Parents struggled to afford the essentials as back-to-school costs grew in 2023. With parents budgeting for the new term, replenishing school supplies were a priority. A focus on the essentials meant some were forced to cut back spending on bigger-ticket items while others relied heavily on discounts and promotions.
- Back to school market size: Mintel estimates consumer spending on back-to-school items surpassed £1335 million in 2023.
Back to School Retail Market: Challenges and Opportunities
Help spread back-to-school retail costs
With value still high on the agenda, brands in the back-to-school retail market need to be active in communicating to parents not just the lowest base price but alternative ways to save. For example, buy-now-pay-later options provide flexibility to parents and help them spread costs.
- Back to school market challenge: 46% of parents have bought items using a payment scheme (eg. buy-now-pay-later).
Highlight the quality of high-quality
Retailers have an opportunity to highlight the benefits, functions and the payoff for investing in higher-quality products, and making these benefits tangible is crucial in communicating the value of both the financial and sustainable qualities in buying better-quality products that last longer.
- Back to school market opportunity: 73% of parents think it is worth paying more for high-quality products.
Purchase our UK Back-to-School Market Report to receive a five-year forecast, consumer behaviour analysis, and recommendations for market opportunities. Readers of this report may also be interested in our UK Childrenswear Market Report 2023.
Leading Brands in the Back to School Market
M&S, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, Decathalon, Superdrug, Curry’s, Amazon.
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Expert Insights from a Mintel Analyst
This report, written by Emily Viberg, a leading research analyst, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight trends in the back to school retail market and add expert context to the numbers.
Value remains a priority for parents, but this means more than just price with flexible payment schemes, and circular shopping options are now a must-have in the back-to-school market.
Emily Vilberg
Global Analyst
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- Key issues covered in this Report
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the back-to-school market
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Graph 1: breakdown of estimated spending on back to school items, 2021-23
- Graph 2: CPI inflation rate, 2021-23
- Graph 3: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- Graph 4: the financial confidence index, 2016-23
- What consumers want and why
- Graph 5: back to school purchasing, 2021-23
- Graph 6: what they buy for back to school, 2021-23
- Graph 7: how much they spend on back to school items, 2021-23
- Graph 8: the impact of the cost-of-living on back to school shopping, 2023
- Graph 9: sustainable back-to-school behaviours, 2023
- Graph 10: back-to-school behaviours, 2023
- Innovation and marketing
- Graph 11: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising from all retailers between July-September, 2019-23
- Graph 12: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising by retailers between July-September, 2023
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Market dynamics
- Market size
- Graph 13: estimated consumer spending on back to school , 2021-23
- Graph 14: breakdown of back to school spending, 2021-23
- Macro-economic factors
- Graph 15: GDP, 2021-23
- Graph 16: CPI inflation rate, 2021-23
- Graph 17: “Are you expecting to do any of the following as a result of rising prices? Please select all that apply.”, 2023
- Graph 18: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- Graph 19: the financial confidence index, 2016-23
- Graph 20: number of live births, 2000-22
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Back-to-school purchasing
- Graph 21: back-to-school purchasing, 2021-23
- Graph 22: how parents buy back-to-school items, 2021-23
- What they bought for back to school in 2023
- Graph 23: what they bought for back to school, 2021-23
- Graph 24: how parents bought back-to-school items, 2023
- How much they spend on back-to-school items in 2023
- Graph 25: how much they spent on back-to-school items, 2021-23
- Impact of cost of living on back to school
- Savvy back-to-school shopping behaviours
- Graph 26: savvy back-to-school shopping behaviours, 2023
- Sustainable back-to-school behaviours
- Graph 27: sustainable back-to-school behaviours, 2023
- Back-to-school shopping behaviours
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Innovation And Marketing Trends
- Launch activity and innovation
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Graph 28: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising from all retailers between July-September, 2019-23
- Graph 29: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising by retailers between July-September, 2023
- Graph 30: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising from all retailers between July-September, by media type, 2023
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Appendix
- Report scope and definitions
- Methodology
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