July may be the peak of summer, but it’s also a time of year when many shoppers prepare for back to school. According to our research, 35% of shoppers said they planned to purchase back-to-school items in July
The data from last month confirms that. Our Category Pacesetters tool ranked coloring and office supplies as the two categories with the highest share of total purchases compared to the previous 11 months.
But zooming out, our broader category data paints a different picture. While the general merchandise category — which encompasses products like school and office supplies — saw a swing back toward branded products from June, store trips, dollars spent, and units moved remained down year over year. In other words, purchases of back-to-school items may be on the rise, but other general merchandise items aren’t experiencing the same upswing.
The GM category isn’t the only one facing market challenges though. Store trips were down in July across all five major categories we track — by at least 10% YoY. This seems antithetical to the rise in cross-store shopping, with consumers hunting for the best prices across different retailers. However, as more and more consumers handle their shopping online, we’re likely to see this trend continue.
A decline in store trips alone may not be cause for much concern, but the downward trends in dollars spent and units moved shouldn’t be ignored. As inflation remains top of mind for consumers and private labels continue to expand their market share, it’s worth keeping these trends in mind — and taking action to drive consumers to your brand.
Ibotta is a leading data source for both incentivized and organic purchases from in-store and online sales across all major U.S. retail channels. Ibotta’s first-party SKU-level data provides insights into shopper behavior across over 3 billion lines of purchase data annually — all of which can be used to help you craft winning marketing strategies for your brand. Explore the July YoY trends below and drill down into your sub-category by getting in touch with an Ibotta rep today.
The data from last month confirms that. Our Category Pacesetters tool ranked coloring and office supplies as the two categories with the highest share of total purchases compared to the previous 11 months.
But zooming out, our broader category data paints a different picture. While the general merchandise category — which encompasses products like school and office supplies — saw a swing back toward branded products from June, store trips, dollars spent, and units moved remained down year over year. In other words, purchases of back-to-school items may be on the rise, but other general merchandise items aren’t experiencing the same upswing.
The GM category isn’t the only one facing market challenges though. Store trips were down in July across all five major categories we track — by at least 10% YoY. This seems antithetical to the rise in cross-store shopping, with consumers hunting for the best prices across different retailers. However, as more and more consumers handle their shopping online, we’re likely to see this trend continue.
A decline in store trips alone may not be cause for much concern, but the downward trends in dollars spent and units moved shouldn’t be ignored. As inflation remains top of mind for consumers and private labels continue to expand their market share, it’s worth keeping these trends in mind — and taking action to drive consumers to your brand.
Ibotta is a leading data source for both incentivized and organic purchases from in-store and online sales across all major U.S. retail channels. Ibotta’s first-party SKU-level data provides insights into shopper behavior across over 3 billion lines of purchase data annually — all of which can be used to help you craft winning marketing strategies for your brand. Explore the July YoY trends below and drill down into your sub-category by getting in touch with an Ibotta rep today.
Category trends
Planning Ahead?
Identify over-indexing categories and track seasonal buying behavior by month with the Category Pacesetters web tool.
