ROANOKE, Va. – Many are already starting back-to-school shopping.Back-to-school time has become its own shopping season, second only to Christmas in terms of family spending. The national retail federation expects record spending this year - Mark Mathews, with the NRF said costs will quickly add up.
"Consumers are going to spend about $1,673 this year, that's about 3 percent higher than last year,” Mathews said.
That breaks down to almost $700 per child on average for K-12 and nearly $1,000 dollars for students going back to college.
Spending on both combined is expected to reach $80.7 billion.
Per child, parents are expected to spend more than $230 on clothing and accessories alone.
Chelsea Moran, marketing and public relations manager at Goodwill Industries of the Valleys said clothes shopping can be a burden.
“Back to school shopping can be very expensive on parents, you have especially children that change sizing, growing so you are probably looking at a new wardrobe in the fall,” Moran said.
Electronics will be the big budget buster this year. According to Deloitte, there will be a 29% increase in spending on back-to-school gadgets.
The retail services company expects parents to shell out a record $3.6 billion on tech like smartphones, wearables and data plans.
Household spending on those items will beat out computers for the first time ever. According to a survey conducted by the nonprofit organization Junior Achievement USA, 60% of parents say it's challenging to afford back-to-school supplies.
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