Steps to use coupon codes at discountschoolsupply.com
Back-to-school shopping is not what it used to be. The annual ritual that brings smiles to retailers and usually leaves parents weary and exhausted is now easier, as more parents and students abandon the race to the mall and opt to fill their carts on-line.
A study conducted last year by the marketing research firm NPD Group found that more than one-quarter of back-to-school shoppers planned to make their purchases over the Web.
As she prepares to start college this fall at Wesleyan, Carmen Valdez, 18, says she's increasingly relying on the Internet, though she has not eliminated the occasional excursion to the store.
"You can definitely get better deals on-line," says Valdez, who recommends Rustyzipper com for vintage clothing bargains and Containerstore.com for storage and organizational supplies. She insists convenience is what makes back-to-school shopping online a no-brainer.
"It's definitely easier to just point and click. I can order things and have them mailed directly to my dorm," says the South Florida resident who will relocate to Macon, Georgia, for college.
Valdez is also a big fan of The Fledgling.com, which bills itself as "the student e-store"-one-stop college shopping for students. The site offers everything from alarm clocks to wall decor. Students can even sign up on-line for a free student pack.
Convenience is not the only motivator fueling on-line buying, though. The annual Yahoo!/ACNielsen Internet Confidence Index released recently reveals that other factors such as product information and price comparisons are foremost on the minds of consumers.
For the second consecutive year, OfficeMax.com is featuring a "School Supply Registry" that allows schools and teachers to display their supply list online. Parents and students at participating schools need only enter the appropriate registry code and proceed to order. By late June, 100 schools from across the nation had set up registries. The program was so successful last year that OfficeMax decided to start two months ahead of schedule this time, says Steve Baisden, investor and public relations manager for OfficeMax.
"We're targeting teachers and students in grades K-8," says Baisden. "In order to entice teachers, we've put together incentives. The first 50 teachers to sign up receive a teacher supply pack; we're also running a sweepstakes-five different schools throughout the country will get a $200 pizza party."
Schools, of course, still have the option to go at it the oldfashioned way by establishing a physical registry at a brick-andmortar OfficeMax store.
Even publishers, who have traditionally relied on booksellers, have not been squeamish about going around the middleman and starting e-stores, particularly for college students. Publisher Houghton Mifflin's on-line college store offers more than traditional texts; college survival books are also included in its virtual fare.
Not everyone is rushing to make those on-line registers ring, though. Many Hispanics, for example, do not own PCs and, therefore, lack Internet access at home. (The latest data from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration show that just 33.7 percent of Hispanic households owned PCs in August 2000). But others who do say they are set in their ways.
Leydanis Gil, whose five-year-old daughter, Amanda, is starting kindergarten at a Miami Lakes, Florida, Montessori school, prefers making the trek out. She says nothing beats the immediate gratification of finding a much-coveted item and taking it home.
"Amanda just likes to pick out the style for her lunch box and backpack:' Gil says.
"It's also a lot more convenient to try on clothes right in the store, than to order it and send it back if it doesn't fit."
However, those willing to sacrifice touching and feeling their way through the aisles to spare the long lines and back orders might find the following sites worth checking out: Ebags.com for backpacks and accessories; Frugal-moms.com for tips on the best bargains on- and off-line; Frenchtoast.com for school uniforms; Textbooks.com for new and used college texts; Supplypak.com, which bills itself as the one-stop school supply shop; and Shopweb.net/backschool.htm for a no-frills, comprehensive on-line back-to-school shopping guide.
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