‘Has the Amazon order arrived yet?’ – Back to School Insights about starting a new Secondary School
I think there is nothing more exciting for two 11 year olds than the prospect of getting to buy lots of new stationery for starting their new secondary school.
This year I am having a slightly unique experience, as I have my sister and her girls staying with me whilst they are getting work done for their new house. I am getting to see first hand the experience of them having to think about their new secondary school, what they can buy and want to buy, where they go shopping and how much they spend.
The Back to School Shopping Experience
I have seen them literally spend over 2 hours looking for a new backpack (this went on for a couple of days!), their first trip to Bluewater with their own spending money ‘We have to go to Paperchase!’, asking every morning ‘Has the Amazon order arrived?’ after a big stationery shop on Amazon and the excitement when coming home and putting new things in their new pencil cases and backpacks.
So from this unique experience, I also thought wouldn’t it be a good idea to ask them about what they like, where they go, why they buy things so that we can get a fresh ‘on the ground’ view of what Back to School means to two 11 year olds and the prospect of starting their new secondary school.
Meet Maaria and Mysha…….
In September they are starting their new secondary school which is TWGGS (Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls).
I asked them a few questions that would give us a bit of insight into their Back to School experience…
How do you feel about starting your new secondary school?
Nervous, excited, happy about meeting new friends, sad about saying goodbye to our old school and most of all excited about the new lessons we are going to have and all the things we need to buy!
What are the top 5 things you MUST have for your first day of your new school?
Pencil case, Rucksack/Backpack, Colouring pens and pencils, Writing pens and pencils, Ruler
What were your favourite pieces of stationery in your last year of primary school?
Maaria – Rubbers (Blott), Pencil Case (Ted Baker Make Up Case), Highlighter (NPW Emojinal Highlighters), Emoji Pen (Paperchase)
Mysha – Lamy fountain pen (Safari purple), Left Handed Scissors (WHSmith), Staedtler pencils (WHSmith), Twistable Colouring Pencils (Amazon), Staedtler Triplus Colour (Amazon)
What do you have in your pencil case from last year?
- Left Handed Scissors (Independent)
- Staedtler pencils (WHSmith)
- Twistable Colouring Pencils (Amazon)
- Staedtler Triplus Colour (Amazon)
- Fineliners (Asda)
- Lamy Cartridges (Paperchase)
- Protactor (Paperchase)
- Pens (Slim Pen with Shell Topper, Pineapple Mechanical Pen) (Paperchase)
Key drivers – Cost, Quality, Design and Ease of Purchase
From their Mum, including rucksacks the cost for Back to School is between £100 and £150 per child. If you think about it this is just at the start of their new secondary school journey. Not a small amount of money, but from what I can see price point is not the driver for most purchases for these children, it is quality, design and ease of purchase, where Amazon comes into full play.
The Back to School List
We also have an official list of what the grammar school requires for their first day of school, however it’s not very extensive! (We have a full list in our Bright Disposition Back to School Report).
All of this has given me a great insight into purchase habits, how design led product was key to these girls, where they shop (Amazon and Paperchase being very popular for this age group) and what we can learn going forward from their shopping habits.
Amazon will be looked at in more detail in our 2017 Back to School Report.
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