Minty has published consumer research showing that back-to-school shopping is starting earlier and increasingly involves AI tools. The survey found that four in 10 consumers are already shopping for the season.
The findings point to a shift in timing, with nearly two-thirds of respondents saying they plan to begin back-to-school purchases before July. Most purchases are expected to be completed online and on mobile devices, based on the US national survey of adults conducted in March with a 97% confidence level.
Back-to-school spending is also expanding beyond its traditional focus on children's school supplies. According to Minty, 34% of consumers are shopping for themselves, while 25% are buying for family members who are not children.
The research suggests shoppers remain willing to spend despite pressure on household budgets. Nearly 90% of respondents said they plan to buy the same amount or more during the back-to-school season than they did a year earlier, reflecting confidence in their ability to find value.
AI featured prominently in that search for savings. AI assistants ranked among the most trusted savings sources, ahead of cashback and savings apps, review sites, and recommendations from friends and family.
AI shopping
The survey found that 77% of back-to-school shoppers intend to use AI while shopping. Nearly half said they would rely on AI for most of their online shopping and plan to use it daily.
Respondents named ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Meta AI as their preferred platforms for AI-assisted shopping. Three-quarters said they were open to AI driving product discovery and making personalised recommendations based on their shopping behaviour.
Price and value were the main reasons respondents gave for turning to AI. Minty found that 77% of back-to-school shoppers plan to use AI to assess what to buy and how to secure the best price.
The most common uses included comparing products for better value, improving product searches, finding deals, learning shopping strategies, curating product options, improving value for specific items, managing a total budget, checking deals in real time, and finding lower-cost alternatives.
Cashback tools also featured in AI-led shopping. More than half of respondents said they had already used a cashback app as part of an AI-assisted search, while 77% said they would do so in future.
Rodney Mason, Chief Marketing Officer at Minty, said the shopping cycle is changing as AI becomes part of routine buying behaviour. "This is the first major shopping event where AI will have a profound impact and serves as a watershed moment playing out in real time for brand marketers," Mason said.
"The shopping journey has compressed into conversations with AI that reason through consumers' intent and goals, analyze their options, and offer an optimized outcome. That new process is heavily influencing what people buy and changes where and how brands need to show up," Mason said.
Purchase decisions
The research also examined how far consumers are prepared to let automated systems take over decisions. Nearly half of respondents said an AI tool, such as a bot, voice assistant, or repeat-purchase automation, had already made a purchase decision on their behalf.
Those respondents also expect an AI agent to complete a purchase for them within the next six months. Two-thirds said they would let a cashback or savings app make a purchase on their behalf.
This points to a retail environment in which AI is moving beyond search and recommendation into transaction execution. For merchants, the data suggests product discovery may increasingly happen inside AI interfaces rather than through traditional browsing, review sites, or direct searches.
The early start to shopping may create another challenge for retailers and brands that have long treated back-to-school as a late-summer sales push. If consumers are spreading purchases across several months, promotional calendars and stock planning may need to adjust to a longer buying window.
Mason said the period remains one of the busiest parts of the retail year, but shopping habits now look markedly different. "Back-to-school shopping season has always been one of the most competitive windows in retail, complete with fixed budgets and short timelines," Mason said.
"What used to be a few weeks of frenzied shopping activity driven by browser or window searches for the best prices on office supplies and children's clothes has turned into a months-long digital spending marathon across all categories where AI is directing traffic. Customer discovery, acquisition, and engagement are at a premium this back-to-school shopping season, and what we see in the coming weeks will set the tone for coveted winter holiday sales and beyond," Mason said.