Subscription Gazprom Bonus presented the results of a study on what parents in Russia are going to buy to prepare their children for the new school year, how much they plan to spend, what categories they want to save on, and what format of discounts they prefer.
School uniform/ Africa Studio/ Shutterstock
The study was conducted using a questionnaire on a random market sample of 500 people representative of the urban population of Russia, as well as a small sample of 112 people from among the subscription users. To prepare for the questionnaire, five in-depth interviews were conducted with the parents of schoolchildren. The survey was conducted jointly with Enjoy Research.
What and where do they plan to buy?
Stationery was the most popular category — 91% of respondents plan to buy it for the school season. Close behind are: school uniform and other clothing (89%); footwear (88%); school bags, bags, pencil cases (81%); sportswear (79%). More than half of respondents also included in the list of expenses the cost of a child's haircut (62%), flowers for teachers (62%) and goods for hobbies and creativity (55%).
The least popular categories are: textbooks (48%) — they are often provided at school; medical examinations to obtain certificates (36%) — this is more relevant in the summer for camp, and, as a rule, they are sought at district clinics; gifts for teachers, other than flowers (30%). Most often, teachers are given candy (8%), the share of other gift categories is less than 3%.
It should be noted that the popularity of categories varies depending on the child's age, but only slightly. By high school, the share of art supplies and textbooks noticeably decreases (from 61% and 45%, respectively, from grades 1 to 4 to 43% and 34%, respectively, from grades 9 to 11), and the share of school uniform and clothing purchases also decreases (from 92% in primary school to 82% in high school), while the share of other categories remains virtually unchanged.
As for the places where respondents plan to buy everything they need, three quarters of respondents named marketplaces, with every fifth mentioning Ozon. Slightly fewer respondents (72%) plan to buy clothes and shoes in large multi-brand stores, including children's stores. Single-brand stores are less popular – from 18% to 36% of respondents (depending on the category) plan to go there for clothes, shoes and school bags. Clothing markets are in the least demand – less than a quarter of respondents plan to shop there. In super- and hypermarkets, respondents look for stationery and creative materials, as well as gifts for teachers.
How much do they plan to spend and what do they save on?
Parents plan to spend an average of 34,752 rubles this year on preparing their children for the new school year. The largest share of expenses is taken up by school uniforms and other clothing — respondents plan to spend a quarter of the budget on this category (8,700 rubles on average across the country). Next come expenses on shoes (4,514 rubles) and sportswear (3,798 rubles), which account for 13% and 11% of the budget, respectively. Of the most popular categories, according to the survey, the least money is spent on stationery (10%) and school bags, bags, pencil cases (9%) — 3,308 rubles and 3,240 rubles on average, respectively.
Discounts and promotions influence the decision to buy school supplies, but most respondents prioritize quality. There is a difference in savings between categories, but it is not dramatic. Discounts have the least influence on the decision to buy shoes (5%), school uniforms and other clothing (7%), and sportswear (7%). Discounts are sought most when buying textbooks (15%), flowers for teachers (14%), stationery (13%), and hobby and craft supplies (12%).
As for the discount format, more than half of respondents (56%) want to see discounts on a specific category. The second most popular format is discounts from a certain purchase amount (50%), as this provides a convenient opportunity to buy several categories at once in one store. Slightly less than half of respondents (42%) noted that they would like to see a discount on ready-made sets: this is especially in demand in the categories of stationery and creative products.
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