![US Back-To-School eCommerce Sales, 2011-2014 [CHART]](http://www.emarketer.com/images/chart_gifs/173001-174000/173741.gif "Chart - US Back-To-School eCommerce Sales")
eMarketer forecasts that digital sales for the back-to-school season will increase 16.0% in 2014. The growth rate for back-to-school ecommerce is slightly higher than the 15.5% overall ecommerce increase forecast for the full year—and is nearly triple the 5.85% growth in projected retail sales overall in Q3.
Buoyed by pent-up demand from a weak Q1 and improving consumer confidence, the retail sector should pick up steam in the second half of the year. Price pressures will persist during the back-to-school season, however, as parents continue to look for bargains. The tough competition has already encouraged retailers to launch promotions in June, but the main buying season will remain unchanged in the second half of July and the month of August. Some 96% of shoppers will complete the bulk of their shopping by the end of August. Read the rest at eMarketer.
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