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Back to School

Fail

Shoppers spend only $48K a year here, so Back to School is a Fail.

Filters Trending
Flapen Score
41
41 / 100
Ranks 577 of 835 Stationery & Office Supplies niches · −6 vs the category median of 47
Market size
£48K/yr353K searches / yr
90-day growth
+167.9%search demand this quarter
Competition
72%top-5 click share · 13 brands · 153 sellers

Flapen Score

Back to School against its category

The dotted line is the Stationery & Office Supplies average. Past it, Back to School is stronger. Inside it, weaker.

41Fail
Big MarketTrendingHigh ConversionOpen MarketLow ReturnsPrice rangeAvg priceNo Dominant BrandLow Review BarrierQuality Gap
This niche Category average

Market

The Back to School market on Amazon at a glance

Shoppers on Amazon United Kingdom searched for Back to School 353K times last year and spent an estimated £48K. The top 5 brands take 85% of clicks. Demand peaks in Jul–Aug–Sep. Flapen scores it 41 out of 100, a Fail.

01 · Demand

1.9% of searches ended in a purchase last week.

Shoppers searched for this 353K times in the last 12 months. That counts every search on Amazon United Kingdom for this niche's terms. In the latest week, 1.9% of those searches ended in a purchase. Searches in the last 90 days moved +167.9% against the 90 days before. Searches, conversion and average price together put the market at an estimated £48K a year.

Searches, last 12 months
353K
Growth, 90 days vs prior 90
+167.9%
Conversion, latest week
1.9%
Market size, estimated
£48Ka year
Peak month
August20.4× the quietest month
Top search term
back to school144K searches a year

02 · Price

A sale here is worth £7.09.

Listings sell for £7.09 on average, from £2.05 to £18.53. Amazon reports units sold in ranges. This niche sold 13K to 15K a year. The average listing sells 750 to 1,000 of them. At £7.09 that is £5K to £7K a year per listing.

Average price
£7.09under the $15 to $100 sweet spot
Price range
£2.05–£18.53
Amazon United Kingdom median price
£12.12across 27,606 niches
Units sold a year
13K–15K
Units per listing a year
750–1,000
Revenue per listing a year
£5K–£7K
Returns
0.2%of orders · Amazon United Kingdom median 0.6%

03 · Entry bar

The bar here is ads and reviews.

94% of listings pay for placement with sponsored ads. 100% ship with Prime. On an average day, 0.0% of listings are out of stock. The average listing ranks #40 within Office Supplies. It carries 3,503 reviews at 4.63 stars, so a new listing needs social proof before a better product.

Sponsored listings
94%
Prime listings
100%
Out of stock, average day
0.0%
Average rank
#40in Office Supplies
Average rating
4.63 starsAmazon United Kingdom average 4.36 stars
Average reviews
3,503per listing
Listings tracked
17

04 · Newcomers

Amazon counts 1 of last year's 3 launches as successful.

3 products launched here in the last 12 months. Amazon counts 1 of them as successful launches, new products that hit its first-year sales bar. The brands on the shelf have sold for 35 months on average, so a newcomer is not facing entrenched names.

Launched, last 12 months
3
Successful launches
1Amazon's first-year sales bar
Average brand age
35 months

Products

Top Back to School products & what they sell for

Every tracked product: its share of the shelf, its reviews, and its price.

Competition

Competition: brands, sellers & click share

The top 5 products take 72% of clicks. A locked shelf that new listings rarely crack.

£0£5K£10K£14K£19K1101001K10K100K Review Count Sales
Beatable (≤4.3★) Contested Strong incumbent (>4.7★)

Brands

13 falling

Sellers

153

Top-5 brand share

85%

Top 20: 100%

Top-5 click share

72%

Top 20: 100%

Open market

13%

  • Helix59%
  • Paper Mate12%
  • adidas8%
  • STAEDTLER4%
  • Four Candies3%
  • CALCUSO3%
  • Open — no brand owns it (7 brands, 13%)

Demand

Back to School search demand

Weekly searches over the year, seasonality beneath. Pick a range.

90K70KSpike '24Holiday '24Spike '25Prime Day '25Spike '26SepDecMarJunAugNovMarMay

Peak months: Jul, Aug, Sep · busiest ÷ quietest = 20.4×

Search terms

Top Back to School search terms shoppers use

The exact words shoppers type, with yearly volume, growth, and conversion.

  • back to school144K/yr
  • school stationery set70K/yr
  • secondary school stationery set28K/yr
  • high school stationery set13K/yr
  • back to school stationery set34K/yr
  • exam stationery set8K/yr
  • school accessories12K/yr
  • school equipment12K/yr
  • helix oxford8K/yr
  • oxford stationery set7K/yr

Reviews and returns

What reviews say buyers love and hate about Back to School

What buyers praise, what they complain about and why they send it back, from the reviews.

Complain

Durability16%−0.08

Will break

Not durable

dont last at all

Quality-Overall12%

Concern on Changed Quality

Cheap rubbish

Poor Quality

Size-Overall4%+0.40

The case is on the very large size

Unfortunately it is not fit for purpose though

its too large

Ink Leakage4%−0.02

Ink doesn't last as long as others

only 1 made it all the way through the ink.

Ran out of ink

Cartridge/Ink Quality4%−0.03

The ink runs out quickly

looks like the ink is about to run out

Must be out of date ink

Love

Value For Money22%+2.05

Great value

REALLY worth the money

Good price

Quality-Overall17%

Good Quality Bag

Amazing quality

Excellent selection of quality kit

Writing Experience8%+0.28

smooth writing

Good writer

Writes well

Advertised Vs Actual Product7%+0.74

Does the job

Exactly as advertised

As described

Pen/Pencil Quality6%+0.45

Good value basic pens

Excellent pens

Great pens Great price

Return

0.2% Return rate 48% Fixable by listing

Size-Overall33%▁▆█▅▆█

The case is on the very large size

Unfortunately it is not fit for purpose though

its too large

Quality-Overall9%▆▃▄█▅█

Concern on Changed Quality

Cheap rubbish

Poor Quality

Functionality-Overall7%█▁▃▂▄▅
Material Quality6%█▄▂▁▂▂
Value For Money6%▁▁▁█▆▃

Very poor value for money

Not worth the money

unable to be used waste of money

FAQ

Common Back to School questions

Answered from the same tracked data.