WASHINGTON—Most families still don’t know what supplies students will need for school and college this year, but more expect at least some classes to take place online than a month ago and say they are buying more computers and other items to be ready, the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics said earlier this week.

“Consumers still face a great deal of uncertainty even as school begins to start and are further behind in their back-to-school spending than they have been in years,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “At this point, the majority of families expect to spend as much as they thought earlier this summer if not more, and it’s largely because of the need to spend more on electronics.”

An update of NRF’s annual back-to-class survey conducted in early August found 63 percent of consumers expect at least some school and college classes will take place online this year, up from 55 percent when the original survey was conducted in early July. Of those, 76 percent plan to make purchases specifically because of online learning, up from 72 percent.

While the number planning to buy laptops is essentially unchanged at 37 percent rather than 36 percent, the number buying accessories such as a mouse or flash drive is up at 26 percent from 21 percent and the number expecting to buy desks or chairs to furnish home classrooms rose from 17 percent to 23 percent.

Parents with children in elementary school through high school say they plan to spend an average $789.49 per family, topping the previous record of $696.70 they said they would spend last year. College students and their families expect to spend an average $1,059.20 per family, which would top last year’s record of $976.78.

Click here to read the full story from Pew Research Center.

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