Yes, it’s the economy, stupid. According to a new study from PriceGrabber, the effects of the slumping economy will find their way to back-to-school supplies. Here are some of the highlights of the survey:

• 41% of online consumers with school age children plan to cut back on back-to-school spending because of the weakened economy.
• Tech products—including notebooks (15%), desktops (5%), printers (10%), and flash memory (46%)—have shown a decrease in average price.
• Top three money-saving techniques online consumers used most often to purchase back-to-school items: shop at discount/bargain/outlet stores (51%), use shopping comparison websites (38%), and visit retailers’ websites to print out coupons (27%).
• Online consumers with school aged children plan to spend the most money in the following categories: clothing (57%), electronics and computer-related equipment (19%), and school supplies (18%).

Back-to-school pricing on tech products is falling, but remains the high ticket item on the back-to-school list. Average prices of the majority of necessary back-to-school tech products have come down year-to-date in January to July 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, excluding cellphones/smartphones, MP3 players, and digital/DSLR cameras.

Looking at the data makes me wonder whether kids want five pairs of new jeans or a new laptop computer. To read more about the study, visit the PriceGrabber site: https://mr.pricegrabber.com/PriceGrabber.com_Back_to_School_Trends_August_CBRx.pdf.