- Report
- Behavioral
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- Behavioral
North America
Back to School Shopping Report
Back to school shopping is already underway for most Gen Z and Millennials in 2026, with parents leading the charge. More than half of 13-39-year-olds plan to shop for back to school this year, including nearly all middle and high schoolers, along with the majority of parents and college students, and estimated budgets are climbing across every category, led by electronics and clothing. Parents are the earliest planners, starting well before July at roughly twice the rate of middle and high schoolers, while college students alone estimate spending $335 on electronics and $239 on textbooks this year. Deal-hunting is having a moment too: scoring a sale is now nearly as exciting to shoppers as getting new clothes, especially for parents, who are the ones mostly footing the bill.
In YPulse’s 2026 Back to School Shopping Report, we dive into why back-to-school budgets are climbing across every category, how AI is becoming part of the shopping discovery process, and why back-to-school style has splintered into a mix of micro-aesthetics with no single dominant trend.
Download the full report for further insights
- Why parents are already leading the back-to-school shopping charge as the earliest planners
- Why scoring a deal is quickly catching up to new clothes as shoppers' favorite part of the season, especially for the parents footing the bill
- How POC, LGBTQ+, and college student shoppers diverge in back to school spending, from tech and home essentials to wardrobe upgrades and dorm must-haves
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Report length: 22, North America report is based on a survey of 1500 13-39-year-olds in the U.S. and Canada (n=1000 U.S., n=500 Canada), fielded May 27–June 4, 2026.
Additional content for Pro users:
The full agreement breakdown on back-to-school shopping attitudes, including strict budgeting, trend-following, and waiting until classes start, the complete spend estimates across all seven shopping categories split by shopper type, the item-by-item wardrobe, technology, and housewares purchase lists for the upcoming school year, the complete ranked list of stores beyond the major retailers, the full list of what’s swaying purchase decisions across 15 influence types, and the complete open-ended responses on what brand young people think will be coolest for back to school and why.
The Data File also includes data split by the following demographics: Gender & Generation, Age Groups, Academic Status, Race & Ethnicity, POC, Country, Urban/Rural Status, LGBTQ+, Family Status, Household Income, and BTS Shopper.