Back-To-School eCommerce Sales, 2011-2015 [TABLE]

Back-To-School eCommerce Sales, 2011-2015 [TABLE]

Propelled by back-to-school buying, US retail sales will grow a relatively strong 4.6% during the core back-to-school shopping months of July and August 2015, eMarketer expects. At the same time, retail ecommerce sales will rise 14.4%, passing $56 billion to represent 16.5% of full-year retail ecommerce sales, according to a new eMarketer report, “Back-to-School Ecommerce Preview 2015: Forecast and Trends for Retail’s ‘Second Season.’”

In general, the back-to-school shopping season has moved earlier every year. Some believe merchants are driving that shift. “The back-to-school season, similar to the holiday season, continues to manifest itself earlier and earlier,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. “It’s all based on retailers and their desire to try to get to the wallet early before the consumer runs out of money.” Read the rest at eMarketer.