Research finds parents in Ireland were buying back-to-school as early as May

The kids are finally heading back to school.

With schools across the country set to reopen in the next couple of weeks we're all getting those last few back-to-school bits sorted. Saying that some parents seem to have started the back to school shop early and we mean really early. According to research conducted by Littlewoods, parents were prepared for ‘back to school’ earlier than ever this year. Back-to-school traffic peaked on the Littlewoods Ireland website on May 16, six weeks earlier than 2019 with ‘school bags’ being most searched for back-to-school item on Littlewoods Ireland in July. 56 per cent of parents also admitted to shopping online for back-to-school items rather than shopping in store. Even though the average parent is planning to spend €236 online in back-to-school goods, 64 per cent of participants said they will not be doubling up on items for hygiene reasons. Of those that will be purchasing second items, over one third (34 per cent) of respondents said they will be purchasing a spare uniform, adding to costs at an expensive time of year for parents. Fittingly, in July alone, searches for ‘school uniforms’ were up over 247 per cent compared to 2019 on Littlewoods website. As well as back-to-school shopping the research also found that 40 per cent of parents will miss quality time with their children when they go back to school. Meanwhile 35 per cent of parents have said they will be catching up on some much-needed alone time. What will they be doing in that alone time? Well, 32 per cent of parents said that they will be cleaning the house the minute the children to their classrooms this September. Catherine O’Toole, Brand Marketing Manager of Littlewoods Ireland, said;

"Our research conducted among parents nationwide, together with our own data has thrown up some surprising statistics this year, along with some interesting Covid-shopping trends. The demand for back-to-school items on Littlewoods Ireland has been busier than ever before this year. Our average daily sessions on the site increased drastically since lockdown."