Stationery business: what parents of schoolchildren will buy in 2054

School season: how to predict consumer demand?

What do astute parents do in July? They start preparing for the upcoming school season. What do other parents do at the end of August? They start preparing for school three times faster. The main issue that concerns Ukrainian families who remained in Ukraine is how to ensure normal and adequate education for children in the current war conditions - without losing quality. Therefore, it is on safety, combined with the desire to preserve a high-quality educational process, that retailers should bet in 2025-2026.

Whatever the case, preparations for the school season are ongoing, and therefore, the peak of queues is scheduled for August 30-31.

How can store owners prepare for the 2025 school season?

Update the assortment

The target audience in a stationery store is children. They are the ones who shape trends. Stationery manufacturers and suppliers respond to demand and offer the most popular prints this year.
 
Stationery is an emotional purchase: children like stylish things, not practical ones. Pay attention to what children like now. Browse the TOPs on Rozetka. Track trends on amazon, tiktok, pinterest: demand ranges from a unicorn stationery set to notebooks and backpacks with 2D characters from Genshin Impact.

 
Do not forget about those who pay money and like to choose a product instead of their child - about initiative parents: in the product range, provide a segment with classic shapes and restrained colors. Pay special attention to budget products that are in demand among parents.
 
Stationery is about sensations: look, touch, feel. To boost sales, select test copies: unpack the notebook so that customers can carefully examine it. It is difficult to sell a packaged product: it cannot be touched, notebooks and notebooks can be evaluated by ruling and paper quality.
Demonstration goods at the end of the season can be sold at cost - for the buyer it will be a good discount, or donated to charity.

Goods for full-time students

A classic school kit for junior high school: 12-sheet checkered notebooks and ruler, notebook covers and folder, blue ballpoint pens, simple pencil, pencil case, sharpener, ruler, eraser, sketchbook, colored pencils, watercolors, brushes, colored paper and cardboard, scissors, glue, plasticine and a plasticine board.

The product bundling mode will be appropriate here: assemble kits for schoolchildren by grade and offer parents a ready-made solution. You can find out what will be needed in the new school year and in what quantity at the nearest school in your area - this way, you will get maximum accuracy and high demand for the kits.

Products for schoolchildren in online learning

In 2025-2026, a significant number of schoolchildren will study remotely. It's not just about students from the frontline and near-frontline regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions - but also children who currently live abroad and will study remotely in Ukrainian schools.Unlike a regular school, the requirements for online learning are different: instead of notebooks, you need to print forms, there are no requirements for the size of notebooks, no covers, diaries, backpacks and pencil cases, tracksuits, work kits are required.
 
But inexpensive laptops, affordable webcams, headsets — headphones with microphone, mice, outline maps, e-books or tablets, printers and paper, quality planners, sketchbooks, good pens and pencils (they do not get lost, as in the classroom) remain indispensable in online learning. For studying, but not for games. Offer a couple of options in the window. If the buyer is not satisfied with the laptops in the store, negotiate with the supplier and demonstrate in the catalog the laptop models with delivery «for tomorrow».

How to motivate customers to prepare for the school year?
 
Maintain communication with the audience:

• Add a store on Google Maps, publish news there, and most importantly, photos of your products.
• Follow Instagram. It is a pleasure to take pictures of the office. See how D.Store does it, Moleskin, Rhodia.

View this post on Instagram

A post by pens, notebooks, pens (@dmagazin)

• Order a modeling shoot with a new collection of backpacks and accessories.
• Synchronize your products with the marketplaces Rozetka and Prom in one day. And it's not too late to make your turnkey online store.
• Order discount cards and develop a loyalty system: discounts on the quantity of goods, the amount of purchase, or bonus system with an expiration date to motivate the buyer to return.

Office stationery is a product that can be photographed and displayed endlessly, it does not lose its relevance, but only slows down sales at the end of the school year. Conduct ABC XYZ analysis, set the minimum stock balance in stores so as not to lose out on purchases and pre-orders. At the end of the season, change the focus, switch your attention to connoisseurs and creative people - more products for creativity and leisure.

Safety in the stationery store

While Ukraine is at war with an inadequate neighbor, all retail stores and commercial establishments must provide their customers with proper conditions of stay during air raids. Currently, Ukrainian legislation does not require entrepreneurs to set aside special shelter areas in their stores and completely shut down their outlets during air raid alerts. However, it is necessary to inform visitors and staff about the need to go to the nearest shelter. Firstly, it will save people from the threat, and secondly, it will save your reputation and even your business.

Read also:

• Automation of a stationery store
• Suppliers and manufacturers Suppliers and manufacturers of stationery in Ukraine
• How to organize automation of a stationery store and why it is necessary