Amazon Rolls Out Student-Focused Stores Ahead Of Back-To-School Season

To reach parents, students and educators ahead of the upcoming school year, Amazon has launched its Back to School and Off to College stores. The sites offer a selection of electronics, apparel and accessories – among other items, Amazon said in an announcement.

“Embarking on a new school year is a significant milestone for the entire family,” Amazon Director of Consumer Electronics Steve Downer said in the announcement. “Our goal is to help customers save precious time during the beautiful summer months by offering a one-stop shop where they can easily find everything they need for the upcoming school year, such as a pair of stylish shoes that can endure a semester’s worth of campus treks or flexible seating options for students whose teachers want to create more movement in the classroom.”

The eCommerce retailer is organizing items by grade or category such as school supplies and “everyday essentials” in its Back to School store. For its Off to College store, the retailer offers items such as laptops and textbooks along with products such as dorm room décor and late-night snacks. Furthermore, college students can pick up their orders at an Amazon pickup location on or near their schools’ campus.

According to findings from market research firm One Click Retail’s “Office Product” research report in 2017, Amazon was at the forefront of retailers for back-to-school shopping. With a 35 percent year-over-year growth in just the first two weeks of the 2017 shopping season, it appeared that Amazon was on the path to hit a projected 80 percent of sales for the early shoppers of the season.

Consumers are still shifting their shopping behaviors from the brick-and-mortar arena to the eCommerce world, made clear by the 20 percent growth Amazon experienced over the entire back-to-school shopping season in 2016. And One Click Retail’s research also found that while Amazon’s sales of office products shot up by 25 percent, brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S. only saw a 1 percent increase.