Back to school Inspire. Planning for Inspire Back to School

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Samson Gilbert
6 years ago
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1 Back to school Inspire Planning for

2 Key Takeaways The summer holiday season hasn t even begun, but marketers need to already be prepared for back to school season. That s because students and parents begin their shopping for new school wear and equipment before the summer barely begins. This inspire will provide insight into when these searches occur, the top trending product demand and an analysis of the important college/ university student audience. Five things to take away from this Inspire are: 1) Seasonal trends Searches around back to school related terms begin to rise in mid-july just as schools begin to shut for the summer. Peak back to school searches occur in mid- September, a week after children return to the classroom. 2) Product demand School uniforms dominated the searches related to back to school products last year and searches around school uniforms starting increasing a month earlier in comparison to other back to school products. 3) Top retailers With supermarkets pushing clothing lines and strong advertising presence around the back to school time, offering affordable and high quality clothing, other retailers who have been well established in this area have felt the consequence. 4) Uni-days University students represent a smaller share of back to school shoppers, but they re spending money on higher price items ranging from electronics and housewares to apparel and accessories making them a valuable group. 5) Spot the university student Age is just one way to identify a university student. Their apparel searches which include bomber jackets, knee-high boots and Rayban sunglasses are another telltale sign. 2

3 Search Demand Searches for Back to School peak in mid-september Searches around back-to-school begin to increase as early as the mid-july indicating that people start planning for the return to school at the same time as schools begin summer break. From this date, searches begin to rise steadily week-on-week peaking the week ending 12 th September. This later peak is likely a reflection of the large proportion of university students starting back in late September, but also the fact that back-to-school shopping continues even after class is back in session. Inspire to Action Hitwise clients can get even more out of this Inspire. Anywhere you see this image, click on it to open a live report that uses the same criteria in the accompanying analysis. And while autumn is peak back-to-school shopping season, there s also some activity around Christmas as parents prepare for the return to school following break. 0,006% 0,005% 0,004% 0,003% 0,002% 0,001% 0,000% Trend in search variations related to Back to School 3

4 Product Demand School uniforms dominate back to school searches TOP TIP Search term portfolios help focus on specific topics that can be compared to another Looking at the top products related to back to school, uniform searches dominate product demand. In the chart here, we see uniform searches begin to increase much earlier in the year compared with other products. In fact, in 2015, school uniform searches began to increase the week ending 6 th June and hit the peak in searches the week ending the 5 th September coinciding the week children return back to school after the summer break. Various product portfolios related to Back to School Week ending 11 th April, th April, ,005% 0,004% 0,003% 0,002% 0,001% 0,000% School Uniform School Bags School Shoes School Stationery & Supplies Subscriber note: Product portfolios must be built in each user s own Hitwise access. To build the portfolio in your access, click on the hyperlinks above and save the resulting search term variations as a portfolio. The portfolio can then be used for further analysis. 4

Product Demand continued Supermarkets receive largest share of product search clicks The school uniform portfolio of searches saw a 55% increase year-on-year, pointing to a growing opportunity for

5 Product Demand continued Supermarkets receive largest share of product search clicks The school uniform portfolio of searches saw a 55% increase year-on-year, pointing to a growing opportunity for retailers to capitalize on this market. School shoes- and bag-related searches begin to see an increase only at the start of July. School shoes hit their peak the week of 29th August while bag searches peaked a week later. When it comes to these items, parents clearly plan ahead. An analysis of the downstream sites visited after back to school searches shows the clear impact that supermarkets are having on this key event in the retail calendar. With supermarkets continuously pushing their clothing lines and strong advertising presence around the back to school time, offering affordable and high quality clothing, other retailers who have been well established in this area have felt the consequence, of loosing out to the convenience factor of supermarkets. TOP TIP Follow the click! Downstream website reports show where consumers go after conducting a specific search. Top websites receiving traffic from Back to School-related searches Week ending 19 th September, 2015 Rank Website % of Search Clicks 1 George at ASDA 6.10% 2 Clothing at Tesco 2.77% 3 Clarks UK 2.00% 4 Tesco Direct 1.47% 5 Next 1.24% 6 Matalan 1.07% 7 Marks & Spencer 0.99% 8 Amazon UK 0.95% Rank Website % of Search Clicks 9 Sportsdirect.com 0.89% 10 JD Sports 0.72% 11 River Island 0.72% 12 EastPak 0.69% 13 Debenhams 0.60% 14 Tesco 0.60% 15 John Lewis 0.58% 16 Argos 0.50% 5

6 Audience Spotlight: University Students The back to school period isn t just for parents with children in primary and secondary education, retailers also look to target the young adults leaving home for the first time. And the number of people in the UK entering into university education continues to grow, providing retailers increasing opportunities to target this valuable audience in the back to school period. With the excitement of that first taste of independence, it is a key time of year for the retail sector, as students wish to equip themselves with the latest technology, but are also hungry to find the best offers around. We benchmarked this segment of university students and compared it to the online population to identify what students are searching for to particular industries. When looking at the top search terms for this segment to the house and garden industry, for instance, we can see that university students are devoting a greater share of their searches than average to finding things like a corner sofa bed, Yankee Candles, bookcases and storage boxes. Top-indexing search variations conducted by university students to key industries Shopping & Classified Apple student discount student discount Unidays Paperchase HP student store UK Tesco coupon Unidays misguided Forever 21 student discount Boots student discount Rewards and Directories cheap phone insurance Boots student discount Beauty Bay student discount Intel HD 5500 part time student jobs Brighton Sunglasses Shop discount code best student bank account Boohoo student discount House and Garden black chest of drawers corner sofa bed Yankee Candle Ikea beds bedside tables sofa bed bookcase storage boxes 6

those key apparel and accessory items that make this year s university student stand out.

7 Audience Spotlight continued What makes the 2016 university stand out? Using our university students segment created in AudienceView, we have analysed some of the top-indexing search terms currently driving visits to the Apparel and Accessories industry to identify those key apparel and accessory items that make this year s university student stand out. Those terms below are much more likely to be of interest to university students than the typical online adult. Over-indexing apparel and accessory searches among university students Rayban Fred Perry Polo Bomber jacket Pandora rings Denim jacket Boyfriend jeans Clarks Desert boots Knee high boots Male Flat cap Harrington jacket Hoodies Cheap t-shirts Nike Huarache Female Block Heels Thigh high boots Midi dress Black Peplum top Wedges 7

Audience Spotlight continued Multimedia searches of university students University student

Netflix and more making these sites a good bet for connecting with this audience.

can identify the content that they re distinctly fond of.

5 times greater share of searches that resulted in a visit to a multimedia site among

4 times greater share of their multimedia searches and Meghan Trainor searches were 3.

Inspire to Action Hitwise Client Service Executives are available every day to provide

8 Audience Spotlight continued Multimedia searches of university students University student devote a disproportionate share of their online visits to multimedia sites like YouTube, Netflix and more making these sites a good bet for connecting with this audience. Looking at the search terms that are driving university students to a multimedia site, we can identify the content that they re distinctly fond of. For instance, searches for Supergirl accounted for a 6.5 times greater share of searches that resulted in a visit to a multimedia site among university students than the typical online adult. Likewise, Arsenal searches occupied a 5.4 times greater share of their multimedia searches and Meghan Trainor searches were 3.7 times more dominant. Inspire to Action Hitwise Client Service Executives are available every day to provide additional training and support and to collaborate with clients on ways to deliver the most relevant and unique insights in order to make smarter marketing decisions. Learn more by contacting Hitwise today! Over-indexing multimedia searches among university students 8

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Experian Hitwise Inspire Retail > Father s Day Searches for Personalised Father s Day gifts increased 16.81% Year-on-Year

Experian Hitwise Inspire Retail > Father s Day Searches for Personalised Father s Day gifts increased 16.81% Year-on-Year Sunday 21 st June marks Father s Day in the UK, when many people make a special