Nearly three quarters of Canadian consumers prefer to shop for school items in-store rather than online, a new study from the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) shows.

The RCC released its latest consumer study last week on back-to-school shopping expectations for this fall. The popularity of in-store shopping as opposed to finding items online reverses a trend that’s been observed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The council’s study also found that Back-to-School spending is expected to largely remain stable in 2024, with more than 85% of respondents believing they will spend as much as last year or more on school supplies.

Most surveyed consumers (72.7%) said they plan to spend more than $50 on back-to-school items, with the top spending items being school supplies, clothing, books and electronics.

Buying school supplies is becoming more planned, with nearly 40% of respondents saying they plan to make their purchases two to four weeks ahead of the school year beginning, an increase of around 10% from last year. As well, the number of respondents who will shop a week before the start of the school year has dropped to 5%, down more than 10% from last year.

Consumers are finding inspiration for back-to-school items most often from flyers (46.2%) and products seen in-store (35.4%).

Consumers who were surveyed were split on the value of known brand names. While 35.4% said they prefer to buy known brands, 36.3% said they don’t consider it important to purchase items from known brands. Meanwhile, 28.3% said they prioritize finding the best value for their purchases.

The RCC surveyed Canadians from across the country in partnership with Caddle for the report. Surveys were conducted in July using Caddle’s mobile platform, reaching a representative randomized sample of 8,737 Canadian adults.