US Back to School 2024: Popular Products and Classroom Chic—Which Categories and Apparel Brands Will Dominate the Season?

Published – June 2024

What will consumers buy this back-to-school (BTS) season? We continue our US Back to School 2024 series of reports by diving into proprietary survey findings on the product categories that consumers look set to shop this season.

We also explore consumers’ apparel shopping expectations and preferences in more detail, identifying the apparel brands that are likely to capture spending.

Data in this research report include:

• Product categories that BTS shoppers expect to buy
• BTS shoppers’ expectations for spending on product categories compared to last year
• Apparel brands that consumers plan to buy this BTS season
• Popular apparel and fashion trends for BTS

We break down our overall findings by school level and household income.

1. Top BTS Product Categories
2. Spending Expectations: More vs. Less, by Category
3. Most Popular Apparel Brands
4. Apparel Trends
5. What We Think
6. Methodology

18-slide PDF report

Adidas, Amazon, NIKE, Old Navy, Target, Under Armour, Walmart

1. Product Categories That BTS Shoppers Plan To Buy (% of Respondents)
2. Product Categories That BTS Shoppers Plan To Buy, by School Level (% of Respondents)
3. Product Categories That BTS Shoppers Plan To Buy, by Household Income (% of Respondents)
4. Product Categories That BTS Shoppers Plan To Buy, by Channel (% of Respondents)
5. Expectations for BTS Spending on Product Categories This Year Compared to Last Year, by School Level (% of Respondents)
6. Expectations for BTS Spending on Product Categories This Year Compared to Last Year, by Household Income (% of Respondents)
7. Apparel Brands That Consumers Plan To Buy This BTS Season (% of Respondents)
8. Apparel Brands That Consumers Plan To Buy This BTS Season, by School Level (% of Respondents)
9. Apparel Brands That Consumers Plan To Buy This BTS Season, by Household Income (% of Respondents)
10. Apparel and Fashion Trends That Consumers Are Most Excited About for the BTS Season (% of Respondents)
11. Clothing Items That Consumers Think Will Be Must-Haves in the BTS Season (% of Respondents)
12. Preferred Color Palette for BTS Shopping (% of Respondents)