Virtual BTS not so hot

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 9/16/2004 12:20:00 PM

NEW YORK — The back-to-school selling season, a key component of the U.S. retailing calendar, is turning out to be something of a bust as far as online shopping goes, The Conference Board has reported.

The business think tank said that while about 40 percent of online consumers have children heading for the classroom this year, only about 15 percent plan to use the Internet to buy back-to-school items."While online retailers are reaching an increasing number of consumers when it comes to holiday shopping, they are not connecting with consumers for back-to-school sales," said Lynn Franco, director of The Confence Board's Consumer Research Center.