NRF Expects Back-to-School Tech Buy Cuts, Amid Amazon Promo; Comcast Warns on 'Porch Pirates'
Consumers plan to spend less on technology this back-to-school season, which will have total sales of $82.8 billion vs. $83.8 billion last year, found a June poll from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics that Amazon cited…
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Thursday. The company was pushing such specials for its upcoming Prime Day event, beginning Monday. The biggest change by category is tech, said Mark Mathews, NRF vice president-research. Laptops, tablets and smartphones have become “an everyday part of household life and aren’t necessarily a purchase parents save for the start of the school year,” Mathews said. Still, Amazon said more than a third of back-to-school and off-to-college shoppers reported shopping for school items there during 2017 Prime Day, with NRF forecasting a 2018 rise to more than half. Comcast focused on Prime Day delivery theft. “Porch pirates,” it said, “may also be looking to snag the latest goods at the expense of unsuspecting consumers.” Amazon began Amazon Key last fall as a Prime membership benefit in 37 cities, controlling access to customers’ homes.