Consumers reacting to tariffs amid back-to-school shopping season

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Back-to-school season is here, and with that often comes a long list of supplies.

ABC57 looked into how back-to-school shoppers are responding to concerns about the cost of school supplies due to tariffs.

According to the National Retail Federation,67 percent of back-to-school shoppers started buying items for the upcoming school year in early July.

NRF data shows that about half of back-to-school families are going shopping for supplies earlier than last year due to concerns of rising prices from tariffs.

The NRF says families with students from elementary through high school plan to spend an average of about $143 on school supplies.

The National Retail Federation had a webinar on July 23rd to discuss back-to-school consumer trends.

The NRF's Chief Economist and Executive Director of Research, Mark Mathews, said in the July 23rd webinar that shoppers have yet to see the full effect of tariffs.

He says retailers are trying to keep the back-to-school items low, and some pre-tariff goods may still be on shelves. He says historically, tariffs can take time to make it to consumers.

The National Retail Federation's VP of Industry and Consumer Insights, Katherine Cullen, says one of the ways consumers respond to economic stress and uncertainty is by moving up their shopping in key seasons, like back-to-school.

"We may not have really seen the full effects of tariffs, but it's on consumers' minds. They are thinking about it, starting to see potentially higher prices due to inflation, and it's shifting their behavior," said Cullen.

ABC57 spoke with a few shoppers outside of local stores. Some said they haven’t noticed any changes to the price of school supplies, while others are noticing price changes–either recently or over the past few years.

Barb Franklin says she's noticed higher prices.

"In fact, I was talking to my daughter about that, and she says this year they're going to reuse backpacks from last year because they’re still in good shape, so they're not going to buy new like they normally do," said Franklin.

Frankie Moffitt said he started shopping for back-to-school items early. He encourages people to shop around for the best deals.

"It's better to get it all at one time and get it all now. It helps with the whole finance thing, it's all about budgeting," said Moffitt.