In the run up to the new school year, parents, students and educators will spend an estimated £56.4 billion in the US alone this year on school supplies, apparel and accessories, according to eMarketer. Using historical search and product purchase data across 1.6 million units sold we have shortlisted 5 key things to be mindful of. With this data it is possible to tailor products, product detail pages, ad campaign targeting and creative to gain a competitive advantage for your brand.

1. Understand the Back-to-School Shopper

Marketers can avoid wasting millions of marketing spend by better understanding the back-to-school shopper. Personalising marketing campaigns down to tailored imagery and using product recommendations based on demographics and past behaviour is crucial as it ensures the messaging is most pertinent.

As a marketer you can use UI’s like Ignite, Acorn-i’s proprietary analytics platform, to analyse 2022 trends during the back-to-school period, look at customer searches, see current search trends and understand when to begin advertising your products.

Additionally, Ignite allows us to see historical transactional data as well as segment sales into customer types, i.e. are they new or an existing shopper? We also categorise shoppers into behavioural segments bespoke to each brand and with this capability can tell you if you have a single or a multi-buyer and whether they are a champion (very loyal) or lost (bought once and never seen again). We’re able to tell you that a champion shopper is worth, for instance, almost 50 times more than a single buyer and we’ll devise both retention and conversion strategies to migrate them from a low level engagement with your brand to a higher level one.

2. Focus on Being Mobile Friendly

Across the millions of visits to the Amazon site each month, on average 55% of these are via mobile with this increasing to more than 60% during peak shopping periods. Acorn-i has evaluated other key retailing events on Amazon such as Prime Day, and we have found that during seasonal events page views increase on mobile devices by up to 8%.

Overall, shoppers visit the Amazon Shopping App more than the desktop version, and this is even more apparent during seasonal events. Depending on the marketplace this can be even higher at 63% – Amazon Japan, USA, Spain and Mexico have the highest propensity for mobile viewing whereas The Netherland and Poland have the lowest with a mere 23% of mobile views vs browser, based on an analysis of more than >1,000 product purchases.

Optimising advertising for seamless mobile shopping is essential when consumers are on the move. A mobile-friendly image that loads quickly and using content curated for screen size will boost click-through-rates (CTR) and conversions.

Acorn-i conducted a test-and-learn campaign that involved altering advertising images within Amazon Ads Sponsored Brand. The objective was to validate the impact of creative on performance, and the results were significant. Notably, CTR experienced a nearly threefold increase, rising from 0.05% to 0.14%.

3. Promote Virtual Bundles and Discounts

Back-to-school shopping means bulk purchases as shoppers tend to purchase multiple items to prepare for the year ahead, contributing to larger basket sizes. E-commerce managers should offer attractive Amazon bundle deals and discounts on stationery sets, backpacks, and technology which will generate larger basket sizes and improve margin.

Also, enticing shoppers with discounted bundle will increase the average order value, particularly as there is a strong preference among shoppers to purchase items on deal given the propensity for children to quickly outgrow clothing or need replacements for other supplies the next academic year.

Amazon US Sellers who are brand-registered and own the ASINs they want to bundle can go to their Seller central account and under ‘inventory’ go to ‘manage inventory’, then ‘create a bundle’. They’ll then be able to add 2-5 FBA products to include in the bundle and assign it to a relevant product category – we recommend using best sellers and items most frequently bought together already.

Other added benefits to bundling are that you’ll have a lower PPC cost per product and you will have no competitors for your Buy-Box. For more information on the Amazon Buy-Box see our post on it: Amazon Buy Box – Acorn-i.

4. “Personalise” Recommendations and Re-target

By using data analytics available from our proprietary data platform Ignite, e-commerce managers can gain insight into previous years’ performance during the event. Furthermore, Amazon gives the possibility to personalise product suggestions that are tailored to a shopper’s browsing history and their past purchases. According to McKinsey 35% of purchases on Amazon come from product recommendations.

As an Amazon Ads Advanced Partner, Acorn-i have a team of dedicated experts who will deliver your ads and other retail media to this full effect. Two ad types that are ideal for custom audience segment re-targeting are Sponsored Display and Demand Side Platform. Our experience across full-funnel marketing and re-targeting campaigns is available to all our clients.

5. Know the 2023 Back-to-School Spending Trends

According to Field Agent, 44% of U.S. households plan to increase their back-to-school spending this year, despite 66% acknowledging the impact of rising inflation on their 2023 expenditures. This underscores the relevance of the bundling and deal strategies discussed in point 3.

The 2023 Deloitte Back-to-School Survey identifies focal spending areas. Notably, 40% of U.S. back-to-school expenses focus on clothing and accessories, while school supplies comprise 23%. Tech products secured a substantial 30%, with the remaining 7% categorized as ‘other’. This insight guides e-commerce managers in addressing customer demands effectively.

In the UK, parallel trends emerge, encompassing school uniforms, sportswear, stationery, books, and accessories. Global Data points out Amazon as the preferred books retailer. During challenging economic conditions, price-conscious shoppers lean towards value and discount retailers. Statista highlights the convenience of online channels for UK shoppers’ back-to-school needs, with 43% finding online shopping safer and more satisfactory.

Acorn-i are here to help brands make the most of the online retail space, so if you have questions or want further support reach out to us at info@acorn-i.com.