The search volume increased by 2512%, and this year's back-to-school season's best-selling product turned out to be this

The back-to-school season from July to September every year is the second most popular shopping season after Christmas. Every year during the back-to-school season, sellers will make a lot of money. However, this year's Amazon back-to-school shopping craze has shown some different characteristics from previous years.

In the past month, searches for “kids’ masks,” “back to school supplies,” and “school backpacks” have increased by 204%, 1,006%, and 2,512%, respectively. However, several categories of back-to-school essentials have seen negative year-over-year revenue growth, including laptops, classroom decorations, and hand sanitizer.

Search volume for school backpacks increased by 2512%, making it the best-selling product in the back-to-school season

As online shopping becomes more popular, sales and revenue for most products will increase year over year. This is especially true during the popular annual shopping season. So it’s a big deal that the usual back-to-school shopping period is seeing negative growth this year.

Relevant data shows that although searches and sales of children's masks, clothing and lunch boxes have been surging over the past period of time, back-to-school supplies such as classroom decorations, backpacks and notebooks are not as good as last year.

Let's look at the details below:

As families and educators across much of the U.S. prepared to resume in-person instruction , keyword searches for school supplies and children’s apparel surged in July .

Here’s how consumers are searching for related products on Amazon:

Back to school : 739% increase

School supplies : Up 217%

Back-to-school supplies : up 1,006%

School Board Day 1 : 298% increase

School uniforms : up 496%

School backpacks : up 2,512%

Back-to-school shirts : Up 380%

Girls' clothing : up 42%

Boys apparel : up 42%

Children's masks : up 204%

Judging from search volume alone, it would appear that business is proceeding as normal for sellers of back-to-school essentials, as it has in previous years. However, this is not the case.

Relevant data shows that revenue in some school supplies categories on Amazon has declined compared with last year's sales data .

Here's how Amazon's back-to-school revenue looked from June 1 to August 1, 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.

Positive growth categories :

As in a normal year without the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic , revenue for many school daily necessities has increased this year compared to last year .

Early Childhood Education Classroom Supplies : This category includes products commonly found in preschools and daycare centers, such as supplies for learning numbers and the alphabet, and other tactile children's games and puzzles. Revenue in this category grew 13% and unit sales grew 11% compared to 2020.

The best-performing product in this category was a children's art easel. It sold 2,592 units in the past month , nearly 4,000 fewer than in July 2020 .

Lunchboxes : This year, category revenue for kids’ lunchboxes has grown 72%, with unit sales up 93% from June to July 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. This segment is dominated by third-party sellers on Amazon who sell items like this best-selling basketball-themed lunchbox.

Categories experiencing negative growth :

Jungle Scout’s data shows that in some market segments, revenue and sales have experienced negative year-over-year growth. However, it is worth noting that although the entire school supplies category is down this year, the top brands and products in each category have generally shown positive annual revenue.

Classroom Decorations : Products that teachers typically use to make their classrooms more festive did not sell well this year compared to 2020 , with revenue down 33%.

Educational Graphics & Posters : Despite a 62% revenue increase for the top-selling product in this category since last year , Educational Graphics & Posters revenue overall was down 7% this summer compared to last year. This was likely due to a 1% decrease in the median unit price for this category, as unit sales were actually up 1% this year.

Backpacks : Revenue and sales fell 43% this year as fewer parents and guardians purchased new backpacks for school-age children , but revenue from the best-selling laptop-compatible backpack in the category grew 16%.

What Happened to Back-to-School Shopping in 2021?

There are many reasons why school supplies are performing differently on Amazon this year. Jungle Scout looked into school policies and recent consumer trends to find some answers.

Parents are shopping for mostly younger students

First, the categories showing year-over-year revenue and keyword search growth are most relevant to young children in daycare, preschool, and elementary school. Young children have occupied a gray area for COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, accounting for a smaller share of overall infections than other age groups, not yet able to be vaccinated, and requiring more supervision than older children if parents return to work. Research shows that remote learning has coincided with months of literacy and math learning loss over the past year.

Given these factors, there is a strong push to get children back to school as soon as possible. Most children will return to school from the beginning of August 2021 , and in fact, four states in the United States have already enacted relevant regulations .

With students widely expected to return to physical classrooms this fall, it makes sense that searches for masks for children have risen . Whether kids will actually wear masks is another question, but about half of the largest school districts in the U.S. plan to make masks mandatory in schools, based on CDC recommendations.

Technology-forward learning is the new normal

Another reason for the decline in sales in certain categories could be the accelerated adoption of technology-assisted learning over the past year. Take laptops, for example: In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when schools were closed in favor of Zoom classes, families who could afford new computers flocked to buy them. Laptops are expensive and are expected to last at least a few years, so it's not surprising that Amazon's laptop sales slowed this summer. With most students using digital devices in school, pencils and paper notebooks have also declined in popularity.

Consumers want to save money

Additionally, parents and older students may be looking for ways to save on school supplies given the financial uncertainty brought on by the pandemic. About 10% of parents earned less in the second quarter of 2021 than in the first quarter, and more than half reduced their spending overall and on Amazon. This year, families may choose not to replace backpacks. The same goes for teachers who want to reuse last year's classroom decorations: Teachers often pay for classroom supplies, a practice that may be less feasible this year.

Hand sanitizer available in schools

As early as 2020, state education departments in the United States stockpiled hundreds of thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer to support the safe operation of reopened schools. Although many school districts recommend that students provide their own personal protective equipment (PPE), the ubiquity of public hand sanitizer stations in public places due to the COVID-19 pandemic means that more consumers may rely on shared supplies in schools.

Back to School Supplies

Children's masks

School Backpack