The BTS Season takes place in the month of August every year in the GCC countries and brings much anticipation for students and parents as they gear up for a brand-new academic year. In the retail market, this is a great opportunity for stores and brands to increase promotions in certain categories under the umbrella of Back-To-School Sales, increase footfall in their stores and for the customers to make big savings while prepping for the season.
Following is an analysis of the retail promotions in KSA from the year 2022 during the BTS weeks.
- Almost all the retailers promoted BTS specific offers during the peak week of the event (week 0)
- Close to around 80% of retailers promoted BTS specific offers a week prior to the BTS week to increase the market sale
- Around 75% of retailers promoted BTS specific flyers after schools reopened in 2022 and the BTS promotions further dropped by 35% 2 weeks after the BTS week
Following is the list of top items which were promoted during BTS, which perfectly align with the requirement of school-going children:
- School Supplies (includes Notebooks & Diaries, Pen & Pencils and other stationery items)
- Marinated and Breaded items (includes frozen products like Chicken Fillets, Strips, Nuggets)
- Cookies and Biscuits
- Chocolates
- Deli & Speciality Cheese
- Water
Top Focused Categories during BTS
Stationery, Computer & Accessories and Furniture are the top categories with maximum promotions during BTS week.
It is also worth noting that August is generally the peak month for promotions in the stationery category due to BTS.
Growth in Promotions Vs Growth of User Engagement
The average growth in the promotions and the % of user engagement with respect to the pre–BTS Weeks (from the period of mid-June till Aug starting) is given below.
Category Wise Promotions Vs Top Promoted Items
In the stationery category, School Supplies (stationery specifically meant for school going children only) had the highest percentage of promotions during all 6 weeks (77%).
In the Computer and Accessories category, laptops and keyboards, mouse and others were promoted the most.
In the furniture segment, study room and living room furniture were the top two types of furniture promoted with a difference of only 2% between the two.
Popular User Searches during BTS Weeks
As per our data from the ClicFlyer App, we have collated some of the most popular searches related to the BTS Event. The chart below depicts the count of searches done for the category on the application.
Notably, there was a substantial increase of around 1600% in the searches of School Supplies and 20% for Computers and Accessories. Though under Electronics, Laptops had a major promotion share, there was a drop of almost 5% in the user searches from Regular to BTS week.
Conclusion
For Back-to-School 2023, customers in KSA and UAE we can expect BTS promotions to begin about a week before, i.e., around the 17th of August 2023. A high number of promotions in School Supplies, Computer Accessories, electronics can again be expected this year.
ClicFlyer provides extensive Business Intelligence & promotions Analytics services (SAAS) for Retail businesses and FMCG brands, with interactive dashboards and insights to drive data driven decisions. For more information, contact sales@cfcorporate.azurewebsites.net
The ClicFlyer app is present in 9 countries including KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and RSA. With the ClicFlyer app, users get access to thousands of in-store deals on 15+ categories every week from super & hypermarkets, electronics stores, home stores and more..
