Most Back-to-School Shoppers Prioritize These Essentials Over Supplies

With the back-to-school season right around the corner, many families are preparing to shop for classroom essentials; however, it appears they may be spending less this year.

According to a new survey from the cash-back website Ebates, parents plan to drop significantly less money during the back-to-school shopping season compared to 2016.

The survey found that 42 percent of parents plan to spend $100 to $300 on back-to-school shopping this year. The 2016 survey showed that parents planned to spend $250 to $500 prior to last year's back-to-school season.

"Our Back-to-School survey found that budgets are smaller this year and that parents and teens are shopping for the tried-and-true back-to-school essentials," explained Amit Patel, CEO of Ebates, in a press release.

But what's at the top of shopping lists? Clothes and shoes, mostly.

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The survey found that 73 percent of parents and 60 percent of teens marked clothing and shoes as the most important back-to-school priority. Pencils, pens, and notebooks were the second highest thing on shopping lists, followed by a backpack or school bag.

But just because clothes and shoes take the cake doesn't mean parents and teens are thrilled about it. Half of parents said that shopping for back-to-school clothes and shoes is actually what they most dread every year.

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Ebates conducted the survey through Propeller Insights this past June and yielded responses from 1,001 adults and 500 teens.