New York Times takes a look at the back-to-college market, one retailers, online and off, have begun to covet.
According to the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, the fastest-growing back-to-college categories include ones that play to the strengths of online retailers, like consumer electronics, computers and even furniture, which is starting to gain momentum with online consumers.
Sears Holdings, which owns Sears, Lands’ End and Kmart, has gone further than most other online retailers in appealing to college students this year by creating a Web site, SimplySearsCollege.com.
Like the big brewers, retailers race to get ’em in the franchise early. For clearly, if Sears wins one over at the age of 19, there’s the potential for 40, 50 maybe 60 years of future sales to that loyal customer.