How Teacher Requests and Viral Trends Turn September Into a Peak Back-to-School Shopping Month

Back-to-school shopping is no longer a quick summer sprint. New 2026 research shows families are starting earlier, spreading purchases across more months and continuing to buy well after classes begin.

Why is September becoming a second back-to-school shopping season?

September ranked as the most popular back-to-school shopping month for the third year in a row in 2026, according to Zeta Global, which surveyed 4,354 U.S. parents and guardians in April 2026.

September captured 29 percent of planned shopping intent, ahead of August at 26 percent, July at 24 percent and June at 21 percent. Shopping is spreading more evenly across the calendar. In 2025, 35 percent of families planned to shop in September and only 15 percent in July. Zeta says September is no longer simply when retailers mark down leftover inventory. Consumers are still actively making purchases as the school year begins.

8 Easy School Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters That They’ll Actually Want to Eat

When are families starting back-to-school shopping in 2026?

About one-third of shoppers had already started browsing or buying by early June 2026, according to the National Retail Federation. That is the highest share NRF has recorded since it began asking the question in 2018.

Gen Z and millennial shoppers posted the largest year-over-year increases in early back-to-school buying. Families are also getting school lists sooner. By early June, 44 percent of shoppers had already received their lists, compared with 38 percent at the same point in 2025. Separately, MRI-Simmons found that 73 percent of parents planned to start back-to-school shopping earlier than normal in 2026.

Do parents keep shopping after school starts?

Yes. MRI-Simmons found that 57 percent of parents plan to shop for school supplies after school begins, even as more families push purchases earlier.

Parents ages 25 to 34 are 20 percent more likely to plan shopping after school begins, the firm found. MRI-Simmons describes the 2026 shopping timeline as “early, extended, and event-driven.” The firm also reported that 78 percent of parents plan their back-to-school shopping around seasonal sales events. Families can be both early shoppers and post-start shoppers, stretching purchases across a longer season.

How do teacher requests create a second shopping wave?

Teachers can send home requests for specific classroom supplies after the first day of school, driving a fresh round of purchases, according to Thomas McMillan, director of the Center for Retailing Innovation at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School.

“This season will also go later than usual because there’s a second wave of shopping that takes place after the school year starts,” McMillan said, according to Texas A&M. McMillan also notes that major sales like Amazon Prime Day are starting as early as June, extending the shopping window on the other end of the calendar.

How are kids and social media changing what ends up on the shopping list?

More than half of back-to-school purchases involve significant or complete input from children, regardless of how much families plan to spend, Zeta found.

Kids arrive at stores or online carts with opinions already shaped by AI tools, group chats and social feeds, according to Zeta. Social media can shift those preferences quickly while the shopping season is underway. Zeta says a product that goes viral in a child’s feed in late August can move from unknown to must-have within 72 hours.