Back-to-school season has long been a critical sales event for retailers, but 2017 may go down as a year that defies the trends as shoppers play a waiting game for sales. However, 2012 was a record year for back-to-school spending as shoppers indulged in pent-up demand following the spending lull of the Great Recession. What are shoppers waiting for? In this regard, back-to-school 2017 could be a preview for the holiday season to come. The association still expects spending to be higher in aggregate this year than last, but with so many waiting, back-to-school is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Source: Forbes August 28, 2017 01:41 UTC