With Value Top of Mind, Here’s Where Shoppers Plan to Snap Up Shoes for Back-to-school

For back-to-school (bts), parents expect to spend more on shoes this year, and they might be willing to give up some quality if they can get something similar at a lower price. Those were two data points from a recent survey conducted by Coresight Research published last week. (The study surveyed 510 respondents ages 18 and up on June 3.) Apparel and accessories saw the highest increase in the number of respondents who expect to pay more, at 59 percent, versus 8.2 percent in 2025. Footwear was the second largest category on increase in spend expectations, at up 45.3 percent versus 5.9 percent last year. Higher prices have shoppers on the hunt for value, with lower prices as a key factor at 57.6 percent, up from 48.8 percent in 2025. Product quality in comparison slipped to 54.1 percent from 55.8 percent. By school level, 80.4 percent of respondents said they will purchase new footwear for their elementary school students, while 80.5 percent said that same for their middle schoolers. There was a slight uptick to 83.4 percent for respondents shopping for high school students. The shoe category overall was third in purchasing plans, at 79.2 percent. That was behind apparel and accessories, at 85.7

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