By Sarah Engel, President
Back-to-school shopping is no longer confined to the school supply aisle or even online shopping carts. Back-to-school discovery starts on social media, in AI conversations, and during early summer sales events. By the time many families reach a retailer, they’ve already discovered products, compared prices, and started building their shopping lists.
This season’s back-to-school shopping is poised to look different than most for three main reasons: AI is becoming a shopping assistant, Prime Day has moved up the shopping calendar, and Gen Alpha is playing a bigger role in what makes it onto shopping lists. Together, these factors are changing not just when families shop, but also how purchase decisions are made.
AI Is Becoming the New Shopping Assistant
Back-to-school shopping can start off with something as simple as a prompt. Consumers are increasingly using AI to compare products, evaluate prices, and build shopping lists before they ever set foot in a store or visit a retailer’s website.
According to Adweek, 56.3% of back-to-school shoppers are using or plan to use AI this season, up from 38% just a year ago. As inflation continues to pressure household budgets, shoppers are increasingly using AI to compare prices, find deals, and identify lower-cost alternatives before making a purchase.
While consumers use AI tools to conduct their own research, retailers are investing heavily in AI capabilities, recognizing that AI is becoming an increasingly important part of the shopping journey. Amazon, for example, highlighted Alexa Shopping throughout Prime Day as a tool for personalized recommendations, deal tracking, and price alerts.
As AI becomes a larger part of the shopping journey, brands should begin treating it as a discovery channel alongside search and social. That means ensuring product content is rich, pricing is up to date, reviews are plentiful, and product descriptions clearly communicate value, making it easier for AI to surface and recommend products before shoppers ever reach a retailer’s website.
Prime Day Has Turned Back-to-School Into a Summer-Long Season
The phrase “back-to-school shopping” used to signal the end of summer. Today, it’s being thrown around before some final school bells have even rung.
When Amazon moved Prime Day to June 23-26, it wasn’t just a calendar shift. The company explicitly positioned the event as an opportunity for shoppers to “gear up for back-to-school early,” with deals spanning everything from classroom supplies to dorm essentials. Target, Walmart, and Best Buy quickly followed, shifting their own promotional calendars earlier and turning one retailer’s move into an industry-wide reset.
That earlier retail calendar is changing consumer behavior. According to Coresight Research, as reported by Modern Retail, 61.8% of shoppers plan to begin their back-to-school shopping before August, with about one-quarter starting in June or earlier. Rather than waiting for a single shopping trip, families are spreading purchases across the summer and taking advantage of early promotions to lock in savings before prices rise later in the season.
Prime Day has evolved into the unofficial kickoff to back-to-school shopping, extending the season by weeks and reshaping when purchase decisions are made. Brands should shift their planning cycles accordingly to ensure campaigns, creative, and promotions are live before shoppers begin building their lists. Waiting until July or August to launch back-to-school campaigns may mean arriving after many shoppers have already filled their carts.
Gen Alpha Is Influencing the Shopping List
Social media has given Gen Alpha a bigger voice in the back-to-school shopping journey. Gen Alpha is discovering products online, following trends, and bringing those preferences into family purchasing decisions before parents even begin shopping.
According to PwC, 61% of households plan to let their children add products directly to online shopping carts after discovering them on social media. In comparison, 58% of parents say their children’s preferences now directly shape back-to-school purchases.
Even as household budgets tighten, those preferences continue to shape purchasing decisions. Trend-driven products like water bottles, backpacks, and popular dorm accessories are still making their way into carts, underscoring how the shopping journey increasingly starts with the child and ends with the parent making the final purchase.
As Gen Alpha’s influence continues to grow, brands should consider how they engage both audiences: inspiring kids through social content while giving parents confidence that the product delivers value.
The New Back-to-School Playbook
Back-to-school has become one of the clearest examples of evolving consumer behaviors. Families are planning earlier, relying on new technologies, and giving younger generations more influence over what they buy.
For brands and retailers, the opportunity isn’t just to adjust promotional timing. It’s time to rethink how they connect with consumers across every stage of the decision-making process, from initial inspiration to final purchase.
