Have you seen How To SELL Anything?

This incredible sales handbook distils an expert's lifetime of sales and marketing experience and hands it to you on a platter, in a simple, easy-to-follow format. With existing customers being the most valuable source of income for any business, this book will teach you how to increase your return business and make more profit from your most loyal customers - and even how to reduce the costs of dealing with your least profitable customers.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Consumers say they're eager to 'get back to normal' soon

Back-to-school survey reveals 2021 plans similar to 2019

According to the study, back-to-school shoppers plan to spend an average of US$954 on school related items as compared to 2019 ($961) and 2020 ($1,053).

"As states across the country continue to fully reopen, the majority of consumers are returning to their pre-pandemic shopping behaviors," stated Tom McGee, President and CEO of ICSC. He goes on to say that: "Consumer confidence and spending will be the driving force that helps to reinvigorate the US economy; back-to-school and the upcoming holiday shopping seasons will contribute to elevating profits to the levels we saw prior to the pandemic."

Shoppers that indicated spending more this year on back-to-school purchases say that rise is due to additional COVID-19 supplies that are needed, such as masks, sanitizers and disinfecting cloths (33%); a need to replace wardrobe and/or school supplies or sporting equipment (32%); a change in the number of individuals attending school (27%); the items being more expensive (22%); and a change in job status or income (15%).

Promotions will play a significant role with 86 percent of back-to-shoppers saying sales will influence their shopping. Forty-seven percent mentioned that once they are in a store, promotions influence what they buy; 38 percent plan their back-to-school shopping around specific promotional events and dates such as sales tax holidays and big sales; and 32 percent plan to take advantage of the deals they receive from membership programs or loyalty rewards programs.

This year, shoppers will take advantage of both in-store and online shopping options with 38 percent planning to make more purchases online and 27 percent taking advantage of buying online and picking up their purchases in a store.

"The back-to-school survey confirms that planning, shopping, and spending habits among adults look much like they did before the pandemic," McGee continued. "Consumer spending will help bolster a reinvigorated economy as we emerge from our stay-at-home lives. Consumer traffic and spending continue to increase as regular activities continue to resume across the country."

The ICSC Back-to-School Survey was conducted online by Engine Insights on behalf of ICSC from July 9-11, 2021. The survey represents a demographically representative sample of 1,003 US respondents. Spending numbers are comprised of K-12 and college spending.

Have you seen How To SELL Anything?

This incredible sales handbook distils an expert's lifetime of sales and marketing experience and hands it to you on a platter, in a simple, easy-to-follow format.

With existing customers being the most valuable source of income for any business, this book will teach you how to increase your return business and make more profit from your most loyal customers - and even how to reduce the costs of dealing with your least profitable customers.

You'll learn to sell yourself, sell your products, and sell your brand on the internet, writing high-conversion landing pages, social media posts, and more. You'll start attracting customers you didn’t even know existed, and learn the top trade secrets for customer retention.

You'll become a lean, mean selling machine. See how the experts do it and learn to adapt what they've done for your own profit. You'll learn to write strong, powerful, effective sales copy, whether it's for a sales script, sales letter, flyer, insert, advert or just about anything else.

You'll learn how to sell whether you're selling by telephone, by mail, or even meeting prospects face-to-face. You'll find out how to size them up, present yourself, nail down their true needs, close the sale, and learn to tackle the tricky ones.

You'll discover the biggest secrets of successful direct mail sellers, sales letter writers, and how to segment and choose the right prospects for each campaign.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)