Parents Back to Physical Stores for Back-to-School Shopping, Retail Expert Says

Ray Wimer, Assistant Professor of Retail Practice at the Whitman School of Management, was quoted in the Morning Consult article “Parents shifting more of their back to school shopping to physical stores.”

As the school year approaches, parents said they will spend more time buying back-to-school items in physical stores in 2018. “I know convenience is big, but trying on for size, making sure the son or daughter really likes the apparel or what have you that’s being bought, is really going to still happen in the store,” Wimer said.

In-store stores have been in competition with online shopping for years. However, a decade ago, value in retail could be defined solely as having lower prices than a  competitor, Wimer said, but now value is about finding the best combination of low-price, high-quality goods and fewer store visits because “e-commerce or online shopping can do all of this for a certain customer.”

Retailers have improved their shopping experience in the face of e-commerce competition. “Stores have gotten a lot better at trying to provide this, as well,” Wimer added.