Inflation invites itself into schoolbags. Constrained by rising prices, the French are reducing their purchases of school supplies. To date, purchases of pencils, notebooks and other glue sticks for the start of the school year are down 3.9% compared to the previous year, at 139 million euros. In volume, i.e. in number of products sold, the decline reached 12.4%. “The impact of inflation on purchasing behavior is massive and undeniable,” observes Julien Peleton-Granier, GfK Consumer Intelligence consultant.
The price of school supplies has increased a little less than that of foodstuffs, whose inflation has reached 15%. The average price of a back-to-school product purchased this year is 3.36 euros, or 9.4% more than last year. Inflation is particularly marked on the side of paper and notebooks. Conversely, it is weaker on glue sticks. Most of this increase is linked to inflation rather than to an innovation that would justify an increase in the price of the product.
Consumers are adapting to this new situation. When it comes to their food shopping, they have been favoring private labels for several months. This is less the case when it comes to school supplies. This year, two out of three items purchased are national brand items, just like last year.
To compensate for rising prices, manufacturers of school supplies have multiplied promotions this year, an opportunity that consumers have seized. Many retailers have also included back-to-school items in their anti-inflation basket at the government’s request. In order, “one in two buyers first chooses to reduce the quantities to what is strictly necessary, explains Julien Peleton-Granier. Then comes the fact of comparing prices more than usual and then favoring promotions and jackpots, and this, without giving up the purchase. »
And a sign that not all consumers save money on the purchase of school supplies, the market share of specialized distributors, on average more expensive than supermarkets, is increasing again this year. However, 9 out of 10 items are still purchased in supermarkets.
