Charlotte Barriquand, edited by Romain Rouillard 06:13, August 21, 2022

The price of school supplies has climbed more than 4% compared to last year.

Faced with this phenomenon, linked to inflation, various hard-discount or destocking brands are on the rise and are attracting more and more parents, concerned about controlling expenses.

It's the bad surprise of the new school year: the bill for school supplies is steep and has increased by 4.25% compared to last year.

And inflation passing by there, certain expenses like electricity, or gas are incompressible.

According to a CSA Research study for Cofidis, 68% of parents say they want to cut back on back-to-school expenses this year.

A trend that is doing business for hard-discount brands like Action.

Customers flock to the approach of the new school year and are looking for the cheapest.

Clearance brands are on the rise 

"We have products whose average price is less than 2 euros, and it's not because we have low prices that we don't have big brands. In our back-to-school assortment, we work with BIC , we work with Oxford", develops Laure Carbonne, spokesperson for the company. 

The destocking brands are also doing well. Stokomani, for example, specializing in this sector, has recorded an 8% increase in attendance for the past week.

Damien Defforey, its president, notes it: a large part of the families waited for the first payment of the back-to-school allowance to hunt for good deals. 

The exceptional back-to-school bonus, paid on September 15

“An example that is causing havoc at the moment is the 12 BIC markers at 1.99 euros which is an incredible price. People are flocking to them and really looking for the opportunity”.

Per family, the back-to-school budget is down 2.6% according to the family trade union confederation.

In addition to supplies, there are also other expenses related to various equipment that can drive up the bill.

"We have a cabin bed with a kind of tent above with two mattresses. To give you an idea, we sold 500 just yesterday," says Damien Defforey. 

The French can, however, anticipate their purchases, bearing in mind the payment of the exceptional back-to-school bonus which concerns 10 million households and which will be paid on September 15.