• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 10, 2023

This year's back-to-school shoppers are majoring in budget management, and the country's biggest retailers have gotten the memo.

Walmart is acknowledging consumers' financial concerns by promising this year's school supplies and backpacks at last year's prices. "We're excited to offer the school supply basket at the same prices as last year," writes Julie Barber, Walmart's executive vice president of general merchandise, in its blog.

The Bentonville, Arkansas retailer is also expanding its digital toolkit and services. That includes a new Classroom Registry, which allows families to help teachers fill their wish lists, who are expected to spend an average of $800 this year to outfit their classrooms.

Walmart is also offering schools the chance to start a nonprofit account, enabling them to accept tax-deductible donations via Spark Good Registry and Round Up. That will allow families to be true to their school all year when shopping on Walmart's app and website.

And the retailer is introducing an inclusion effort, offering sensory-friendly shopping hours on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Currently in its Target Circle Week, Target is offering as much as 20% off in College Student Appreciation deals. And in its popular Target Circle Teacher Appreciation Event, it's giving teachers 20% off an entire shopping trip, whether in-store or online.

"Our back-to-school and back-to-college assortment features a broad range of essentials that are priced right for all families," says Jill Sando, Target's executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, in its release.  "Both teachers and students can count on Target for all their school-year gear at great prices."

While the timing of such campaigns always feels abrupt to those who haven't settled into summer yet, many kids in the U.S. head back to school in August, not September.

And in softer economies, families often start shopping even earlier to find the best deals.

Indeed, that timing is an important reason Amazon schedules its Prime Day shopping event for mid-July. This year, the ecommerce giant is touting extra-special back-to-school savings, like 60% off Gap apparel and 75% off select Amazon devices. Many kids' uniforms from Amazon Essentials are less than $10. Amazon is also offering steep discounts on back-to-school laptops from Acer, Dell and HP and 15% off Champion backpacks.

Despite the temptations of massive sales events from retailers, economists say it's too early to know how much parents will spend on back-to-school this year. While inflation is moderating, higher interest rates are cutting into discretionary spending. And an end to some COVID benefits, including the pause on student loans, is likely to pressure middle- and lower-income families.

The National Retail Federation is scheduled to release its forecast on July 24.