More than 3 million families received the back-to-school grant this week. A welcome financial aid for the most modest households at a time when inflation is cutting into the purchasing power of the French.
In this sense, the Ministry of National Education, aware of the difficulties that lay ahead, had sent a letter at the end of June to school principals urging them to “make lists of reasonable supplies to limit the economic cost to families.”
A claim that is all the more legitimate since school supplies have not been spared the inflationary pressures of recent months. A few weeks ago, manufacturers were already announcing color, expecting price increases on the shelves of up to 25% for paper-based items. “We have never experienced such a large price increase between two rounds,” he stressed with the Figaro Clairefontaine’s president, Guillaume Nusse.
A few days before the start of the school year, you can see the sky-high prices of paper supplies in supermarkets. At Leclerc, the 96-page Oxford notebook in 24×32 format went from 1.08 to 1.26 euros* between August 2021 and August 2022, a rise of close to 17%. While the 160-page Esquisse office block (own brand) and the 48-page notebook of the same brand received increases of 38.1 and 25.6%, respectively.
Identical observation in Carrefour where the packages of double copies and Oxford single copies see their prices increase by 20%. Without a loyalty card, the set of 3 Rhodia (Clairefontaine group) 160-page notebooks, which no longer benefits from an immediate discount for everyone, unlike last year, increases by 59%, from 3.46 euros to 5, 50 euros. However, Carrefour card holders will be penalized less with an increase limited to 11%.
Lower increase in non-paper stationery
If notebooks and other packaging for single and double copies are the first to be affected by the rise in prices, it is because of the explosion in the cost of energy, but above all of raw materials, including paper pulp, which has seen its price skyrocket 70%. % more than a year.
Result, while the inflation of all stationery and drawing products was estimated in July by INSEE at 6.3%, only that of paper articles already reached 10.9%.
Excluding paper products, some increases remain spectacular. In supermarkets, the price of the sets of 8 and 6 Boss markers and the L’Etudiant planner, for example, rose between 27 and 11%. But the increase is still generally more moderate than that observed for notebooks and sheets of paper. With random increases of 7.53% for the Bic Tipp-Ex set of 3, +8.47% for the 10 BIC pencils, +4.7% for the box of 12 Bic color pencils, +3, 85% for the Maped compass box, +5.33% for the 6 Uhu glue sticks…
Many products are also stable in these two brands. This is the case, for example, with the set of 4 ballpoint pens with 4 colours, the 18 Bic colored markers or the Zenoa Maped eraser. Others even fell, such as the Maped tracing kit (ruler, square, protractor) (-11.8%) at Leclerc or the 10 Paper Mate erasers (-35.6%) at Carrefour. In the end, the average price increase for non-paper stationery items amounted to 4.2% in July in one year, according to INSEE. A level lower than general inflation, estimated at 6.1%.
“Back to school at a quick price!”
It must be said that the beginning of the school year is a propitious period for aggressive pricing strategies by large retailers. “Back to school at an affordable price!”, “Back to school within everyone’s reach”, “Back to school at rock-bottom prices”… “immediate discounts” from 20 to 65% and other discounts granted to holders of loyalty cards. Not to mention the “2+1 offered” offers. Which limits the bill for the consumer.
And when Leclerc promises “price maintenance for 2021 on 200 school supplies from 2022” and “basic necessities for less than 2 euros”, Carrefour and Auchan compete with “a full bag for less than 15 euros” and “the essentials of the return at least 1 euro”.
Against these giants of mass distribution, Bureau Vallée’s specialized stationery brand is not far behind: “We have been launching operations since the end of June,” explains Sylvie Camus, Bureau Valley store manager. First it was the list of “100 refunded” products, then the operation “one purchased, one free” and now “the very essentials for the start of the course that cost less than 1 euro. That is, we can have 13 products at 8.90 euros”, continues Sylvie Camus.
Even stronger increases expected in 2023
According to the survey by the Families of France association presented on Tuesday, the total cost of returning to school will increase this year by 4.5% compared to last year. For a child entering 6th grade, it will amount to 208.12 euros, including sports equipment. As a result, 78% of parents plan to curtail their back-to-school spending (clothes, after-school activities, supplies, etc.) this year and 37% say they want to cut their budget for supplies, according to a survey CSA Research for Cofidis.
A moderation that can already be seen in stores. According to figures from the GFK institute broadcast by The worldSchool supply sales were certainly up 5.9% in July for a year, but were down 2% in volume.
And the worst is yet to come, according to the manufacturers. Because the prices currently on the shelves were negotiated with the big retailers in 2021, before the start of the war in Ukraine. In other words, not all cost increases have yet been passed on. New negotiations will take place in the coming months, and “unless the situation changes, there will be colossal increases,” Guillaume Nusse announced in Le Figaro in June. So expect an even higher bill for the start of the 2023 school year.
*Prices take into account “instant discounts” applied by large retailers. Discounts granted through loyalty cards are not taken into account.
Source: BFM TV
