WAGI West Africa Gold (MM)

When do children grow out of cartoons? A Walgreens back-to-school survey of parents with school-age children shows a significant number are fans well into high school.

With themed school supplies once again a trend, cartoon character-themed supplies are desired by 22 percent of high school students, according to the survey. Pop singer themed supplies are most popular among middle school students at 43 percent.

When it comes to pain points for parents who do back-to-school shopping, the Walgreens survey found the following were top dislikes:

    1.     Out-of-stock items – 35 percent 2. Crowded aisles – 23 percent 3. Checkout lines – 18 percent 4. Searching for products – 15 percent 5. Impatient children – 8 percent

“With thousands of back-to-school items available at our more than 8,000 stores, many of which are just around the corner, Walgreens has a great variety of in-stock supplies that will meet parents’ and children’s needs alike,” said Bryan Pugh, vice president of merchandising, store design and Well Experience at Walgreens. “During stressful times like this, we want to make our customers’ shopping experiences as quick and convenient as possible.”

Healthy Living

Physicals and immunizations are an important part of getting a child ready for the new school year, but parents tend to wait until just before the school year begins to do that. In fact, 44 percent of total respondents say that they wait until one to two weeks before school starts to get their children’s physicals. Likewise, nearly 40 percent of total respondents get their children’s immunizations within the last two weeks before school opens.

Flu shots and other immunizations are available at all Walgreens pharmacies daily and are covered by many insurance plans. Immunizations can be administered at Healthcare Clinics at select Walgreens to those over the age of 2. The clinics also offer a convenient solution for services such as annual physicals, with walk-in availability and same-day appointment scheduling online. Vaccines subject to availability - age, state and health related restrictions may apply.

And nearly two-thirds of parents – 62 percent – said healthy solutions like tissues and hand sanitizer are important to include in their children’s backpacks.

Back-To-School Supplies

Forty-three percent of parents buy their children’s school supplies less than a month but more than a week before school starts. Ten percent of back-to-school shoppers tend to procrastinate, purchasing supplies the week before up until the day school commences. Some interesting purchase insights include:

NEED TO BUY FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL     QUANTITY PURCHASED Paper/notebooks – 83%    

• 1-5 = 60%
• 6-10= 26%
• More than 10 = 13%

Pack of pencils – 80%    

• 1-5 = 76%
• 6-10= 16%
• More than 10 = 6%

Pack of pens – 74%    

• 1-5 = 69%
• 6-10= 22%
• More than 10 = 8%

Binders – 72%    

• 1-5 = 71%
• 6-10= 20%
• More than 10 = 9%

Book bag – 72%    

• 1-5 = 87%
• 6-10= 10%
• More than 10 = 4%

Subject folders – 70%    

• 1-5 = 60%
• 6-10= 28%
• More than 10 = 11%

Crayons (box) – 56%    

• 1-5 = 79%
• 6-10= 13%
• More than 10 = 7%

Glue – 52%    

• 1-5 = 79%
• 6-10= 14%
• More than 10 = 7%

Scissors – 49%    

• 1-5 = 83%
• 6-10= 11%
• More than 10 = 5%

Electronics – 43%    

• 1-5 = 80%
• 6-10= 11%
• More than 10 = 6%

   

Shopping Trends

Nearly 80 percent of parents use back-to-school lists - for those who may have forgotten or misplaced their list, Walgreens School Supply List Holders contain copies of shopping lists from local schools. There are several factors parents take into consideration when determining where to buy supplies. Participants cited “lowest prices” (28%) as the most important thing to consider. Knowing that a retailer has exactly what’s required from the child’s preparation list comes in at number two (18%), although the percentage was significantly higher for parents with high school students – 32 percent.

Walgreens surveyed a representative sample of 1,000 U.S. adults online for its Back-to-School study. The research was conducted July 26-30, 2013 by Directions Research.

About Walgreens

As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2012 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides more than 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services help improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 8,105 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130806006317/en/