Back-to-school was always my favorite time of year. There’s just something about new supplies- fresh pencils, unopened crayons, a crisp pencil pouch. I grew up in small-town Ohio, so we mostly shopped at IGA. But for back-to-school? That meant a trip to Walmart- and I absolutely loved it. Actually going back to school? Well that I loved slightly less.
Now that I work in CPG, I see this season in a whole new light. Back-to-school is a multi-billion-dollar moment that creeps earlier every year and touches nearly every aisle. From snacks and pantry staples to cleaning supplies and cold remedies, CPG brands are at the center of families’ prep routines.
At Pear, we have a front-row seat to how that’s playing out in real time. With add-to-cart and purchase data from Walmart and Target, plus retailer visit insights from over 3,000 other retailers, here’s what we’re seeing this season:
Forget August. Across all Pear products, we saw a sharp uptick in retailer visits and purchases at Target and Walmart in the first week of July. Brands that waited until August to activate may have already missed the cart.
Across all brands on Pear’s platform, the top five retailers are consistent: Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger, and Albertsons. But they're not the whole story.
In both late June and early July, nearly half of the top 10 most-visited retailers were regional or convenience-driven: 7-Eleven, Family Dollar, Chewy, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Publix, and Stop & Shop.
If your shoppable media only highlights the big five, you’re missing where a huge chunk of real shoppers actually go.
Jack Link’s is a great example of thinking beyond the usual suspects. Their “Lunch Box Snacks” push is clearly aimed at back-to-school, and in July, we saw retailer visits spike at places like CVS and 7-Eleven- two retailers you won’t always find on a standard Where-to-Buy widget.
To win the full basket, brands need to show up where the full shopper journey happens.
Back-to-school season is driving traffic to brand.com – especially for kid-friendly staples. I dug into the Shoppable PDP and Store Locator data for one of our Pear-ants’ go-to snacks. Their onsite Pear experience saw a 33% increase in page loads the first 2 weeks of July compared to the last 2 weeks of June.
Back-to-school is a fast-moving, high-stakes season. Brands that win are the ones that meet shoppers where they are – literally and figuratively. At Pear, we help brands understand what’s working and where to double down, powered by real-time retail signals that go beyond the guesswork.
Want to see what your shoppers are clicking, carting, and buying for back-to-school and beyond? Schedule a demo to learn more.
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Jess Mabis || Pear Commerce, Head of People Ops
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