DETROIT – Many school districts are finalizing their plans for the fall, which means many parents have to deal with the reality of preparing their children for the school year.
READ: Here’s what Michigan school districts have planned for the fall amid the pandemic
Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the annual tradition of back-to-school shopping is undergoing a major makeover.
Sree Menon, a shopping trends expert, said this is the strangest back-to-school shopping season she’s ever seen. She’s been following shopping trends for nearly a decade.
“This, as compared to last year for instance we have seen the sale of laptops and the more expensive things like you know Apple laptops. All of those are going down from about 70 to 100 percent,” Menon said.
Menon said people are buying gadgets, but families with young children are just not spending money on expensive electronics.
View list: Michigan school district return plans for 2020-21
“What we’re seeing is an increase on tablets sales for instance, about 70 percent increase in tablet sales as compared to last year same period,” Menon said. “Whereas the sale of PC laptops and netbooks have dropped to 72 percent and the sales of Apple laptops have dropped by about 100 percent as compared to the same time period.”
With so much uncertainty, traditional popular back-to-school items like backpacks, lunch boxes and notebooks are all still sitting on store shelves. Families are buying comfortable clothes, lots of board games, puzzles and more educational toys.
Analysts said because of all the economic uncertainty people are holding back, curbing their spending and waiting until they feel more secure int he economy.