Each Analyst Corner features highlights and insights from the respective week’s “Report of the Week”—our featured must-read research report. This week, our featured report was US Back to School 2026, Part 2: Where Consumers Will Shop—Mass Merchandisers Lead Over Amazon as Shoppers Prioritize Value, Execution and Convenience.

Discover where and how consumers are shopping, overall and by school level—and what it means for retail strategy.

Read this report to discover answers to these and other questions:

• How are shoppers shifting their purchasing behavior across in-store, online and hybrid channels like BOPIS?
• Which retailer types and individual banners are winning?
• The top categories 2026 BTS shoppers expect to shop.

Companies mentioned in this report include: Walmart, Amazon.

Data in this report include: BTS shopper preferences by channel, leading retailers and brands and top categories BTS shoppers expect to shop

Other relevant research:

• The first report in our US Back to School 2026 series: US Back to School 2026, Part 1: Early Shopping, Inflation Worries and Strategic Choices Shape BTS 2026
• The second report in our US Back to School 2026 series: US Back to School 2026, Part 2: Where Consumers Will Shop—Mass Merchandisers Lead Over Amazon as Shoppers Prioritize Value, Execution and Convenience
• All Analyst Corners