When he saw, at the beginning of July, the figures for his sales of satchels and pencil cases – the first back-to-school purchases of the French –, Adrien Peyroles was not very reassured. The general manager of Bureau Vallée immediately drew the parallel between “the expensive leather goods on the back-to-school shopping list” and the “postponement of investment purchases that the French have been making for a few months”.
He fears that with inflation restricting budgets, families will think “the school bag will be another year”, while“he makes three comebacks on average”. “It could mean a bad year for us”, he imagines, after a less catastrophic return to school in 2022 than expected. Too early, however, to draw conclusions.
Most of the sales of school supplies are generally made after the payment of the back-to-school allowance (ARS). Awarded Wednesday, August 16 to 3 million families, it was revalued this year by 5.6%.
Rise in the price of paper
This financial boost will be, more than ever, one of the purchasing drivers this year, while the cost of schooling has increased by 11.3% over one year, according to the survey of the Trade Union Confederation of Families. (CSF), unveiled on Wednesday. A surge compared to previous years (2.64% in 2022 and 0.75% in 2021). “Families bear the full brunt of rising prices despite reasonable purchasing behavior”underlines the CSF.
Supermarket price surveys carried out in early July by the UFC-Que Choisir association show a 10% increase in the price of supplies over one year. And 14% on stationery products.
“On shaped paper, such as notebooks, we are currently experiencing the rise in paper prices which dates from October 2022, when the raw material was purchased. Ditto for writing products such as pens », explain Nadège Helary, president of the Association of stationery and office manufacturers and general manager of Staedtler France, and Philippe Surun, commercial director of Bic in France. Writing and stationery account for two-thirds of purchases of school supplies, according to the GfK institute.
“2023 promises to be a difficult year”, also fears Romain Lacroix, CEO of the French family business Maped. He who alternates every three years with his brother Antoine in this position “fingers crossed too”fearing that its sales of erasers, pencil sharpeners and compasses will suffer from “Arbitrations of the French with the high level of inflation on food products”. He relies on innovations to convince them, such as his colored pencils made entirely of lead, which were well received by retailers in February when he signed his annual sales contracts.
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