There’s more to back-to-school than the Q3 sales bump

By Lena Kleinwechter, Customer Engagement and Loyalty Strategist at Talon.One

Stock up and discount hard, then move straight on to Christmas. That is the back-to-school playbook for most retailers, and it barely changes year to year.

Back-to-school is one of the biggest trading moments in the calendar. Yes, it’s a nice Q3 sales bump, but it’s also the best window all year to begin a customer relationship, one that lasts far longer than a single purchase.

Think about who is actually shopping. A parent buying supplies for one child this year will be back next year for the same child, and quite possibly for a second or third child after that. Handled well, that first purchase is the start of a relationship that can run for a decade across school shoes, PE kits, lunchboxes and everything after.

Discounting alone leaves you exposed

Back-to-school has become a price war, so discounting can feel like the only option. The C-suite gets its sugar high from the sales spike, but it fades fast. Blanket discounts move stock, then train shoppers to wait for the next markdown.

Retailers who break out of that cycle are taking more from the season than a spike in sales.

Value doesn’t have to mean money off

Gap has run app-only back-to-school offers that required parents to download the app to claim the discount. It’s the same saving they expected, but now it earns Gap the download and first-party data on how that family shops. That data lets Gap build personalised promotions in place of sitewide discounts, which is better for margins and more relevant for shoppers.

Others lean on what we call creative currencies, ways to give shoppers value beyond a price cut. Crayola did exactly this. Itsthank a teacher campaign invited students to nominate a favourite teacher for the chance to feature on a crayon box, with a cash prize for the winning classroom. That is an example of purpose currency, where the reward is doing genuine good, building warmth that a simple discount never could.

A few currencies suit this season especially well. Game currency adds a bit of jeopardy to a routine shop. For example, a spin-to-win when buying a uniform turns a chore kids dread into something with a bit of fun – bringing some much needed relief to a stressful shopping day. Whereas, the consistency currency rewards the return trip, so the half-term top-up feels earned. That kind of value is cheaper to give and harder for a rival to copy.

One season, three shoppers

Parents, students and teachers are shopping for completely different reasons in the same fortnight. A parent restocking Year 7 uniform wants speed and a full list ticked off. A sixth-former buying their own stationery for the first time is choosing on taste. Offer them all the same 20 percent code and you spend margin on people who’d have bought regardless, and say nothing relevant to any of them.

At Talon.One, we see this across the brands we work with. The ones I would back to still be speaking to a shopper at Christmas are those using this season to understand them, not just to shift stock. That understanding is what pays back, long after the discounts have gone.

The discount isn’t the enemy here. The blanket discount is. Use the season to learn who these shoppers are and give them a reason beyond price to come back. Then back-to-school stops being a fortnight of clearance and becomes the start of a relationship worth years of repeat custom.