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December 21 , 2007
Markham, Ontario, Canada
Markham, Ontario, December 19, 2007 – The Nielsen Company today announced the release of the 2007 edition of the annual Back To School Study. The report provides confirmation that Canadians handle their back to school shopping in a very condensed period of time. The $173 million in sales of back to school products represents a 6% increase in dollar sales versus the year ago period.
The 2007 study offers a variety of insights on consumer’s back to school shopping habits, such as:
- The average Canadian household spends approximately $300 on back to school purchases.
- The top three categories purchased in the back to school essentials area for 2007 were:
#1 - Binders
#2 - Pens
#3 - Notebooks and Memo Pads
"Back to School shopping is a yearly requirement for anyone who has kids" said Dave Mann, Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales, The Nielsen Company. "However, the market is experiencing significant changes due to the shrinking school age population and the tight window of opportunity challenging the industry.”
“Future success in this area will require adapting to the realities of the shrinking Canadian school age population,” Mann continued. “With the high school population projected to peak in 2008, the industry needs to focus on providing this age group with product innovations to suit their wants and needs.”
Other things to keep in mind include the increasing trend of cross-shopping at retail outlets. Retailers will need to focus on maintaining consumer loyalty and increasing their penetration to boost sales and stay competitive. The limited timeframe of approximately eight weeks for back to school shopping means retailers and manufacturers must collaborate to plan and execute integrated promotional campaigns to take advantage of the consumer’s desire to get back to school shopping done quickly and conveniently.
About the Back to School Annual Report
The Nielsen Back to School Report combines consumer data from Homescan and PanelTrack surveys in addition to retail tracking data sourced from scanning within MarketTrack™. Information provided includes key performance metrics and trends across 21 categories, and identifies current and emerging consumer and sales trends in the back to school market.
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com
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