Back-to-school season is one of retail’s annual marquee events—a $100B+ battleground where brands can win big or be left out in the cold. But behind the fanfare of supply lists lies a more complex and urgent challenge.
The start of the school year now stretches from early July to late September, with fragmented timelines across regions. Digital channels, once surefire, are crowded and noisy. And as spending habits shift, traditional broad-stroke campaigns are missing the mark.
That’s where a new growth lever comes into play: the Back-to-School Super Shopper Audience. This high-value segment, surfaced through PebblePost’s proprietary data, represents an outsized share of back-to-school revenue and holds the key to outperformance in a critical tentpole season.
Who Are Back-to-School Super Shoppers?
Back-to-School Super Shoppers are the high-intent, high-spending segment at the center of retail growth in late summer and early fall. These consumers spend at least 25% more between July and September than the rest of the year.
Using first-party identity, intent, and transaction data across hundreds of leading brands, we identify Super Shoppers who would otherwise fly under the radar of conventional lookalike or retargeting programs.
Super Shoppers aren’t limited to one sector. They show up—and drive results—in retail, electronics, food, education, and more.
Why Target Super Shoppers?
Back-to-school campaigns consistently outperform non-seasonal efforts, with average order values (AOV) up to 18% higher. By targeting Super Shoppers in particular, brands can maximize conversion and minimize waste during this critical season.
For example, a global apparel brand drove $1.13M incremental revenue by engaging PebblePost’s Super Shopper Audiences. The brand found that Super Shoppers were 343% more likely to convert after receiving programmatic direct mail than the hold-out group.
These valuable, incremental consumers frequently slip through the cracks of typical digital retargeting, as their behaviors don’t always match pre-set audience models. Our proprietary data and AI-driven models surface Super Shoppers in real time, so brands can deliver timely and relevant marketing messages to an audience that is proven to convert.
Ways to Capitalize on Back-to-School Spending
Consumer expectations around back-to-school are evolving rapidly. To win the season, brands should target Back-to-School Super Shoppers and implement the following marketing strategies proven to increase conversion.
1. Move Early and Stay Late
Since back-to-school shopping is no longer confined to a single week or month, brands have to plan agile, extended campaigns. Launch marketing campaigns when intent signals emerge, but extend the window through September to overlap with early holiday spending patterns.
2. Get Creative, Stay Relevant
Parents remain the primary back-to-school spenders, but Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s preferences shape what gets bought and how, when, and where purchases happen. Design campaigns that reflect trends, the target audience, and the realities of parent/child shopping dynamics.
3. Leverage Online and Offline Channels
Social media feeds, email inboxes, and on-site banners are saturated with back-to-school messaging, making it easy for even the most relevant offers to get lost in the shuffle. The best way to break through the noise is to take a multichannel approach, targeting high-intent audiences both on- and offline.
4. Measure Incremental Outcomes
True back-to-school success is measured in real, incremental outcomes—not just impressions or clicks. To prove real-world impact and double down on what works, brands need performance marketing partners that can tie transactions across online and offline channels to exposed and control groups.
How PebblePost Can Help You Get Ahead of the Class
Now is the time to shift your back-to-school strategy from mass-blast to laser-targeted precision. With PebblePost, you can tap into real-time, first-party identity, intent, and transaction signals—and unlock the full value of your back-to-school campaigns, powered by an audience segment proven to deliver.
Whether you’re prospecting new customers or re-engaging previous buyers, our Super Shopper Audiences can enable you to:
- Reach high-spending households with proven seasonal intent
- Go beyond Lookalikes and target new, incremental shoppers
- Launch campaigns in days for quick, market-relevant action
- Measure true lift and bottom-line performance
Ready to reach and convert your highest-value back-to-school shoppers? Let’s talk.
