A new school year provides students with countless opportunities for socialization and education — and for retailers, it’s a chance to score more sales and connect with a new demographic.

According to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation, consumers plan to spend a record $37.1 billion on school items this year, up from $33.9 billion in 2020. Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $848.90, while college students and their families plan to spend an average of $1,200.32.

Here are a few tactics to get your piece of the back-to-school pie:

Create a “too cute to resist” sign outside your store. Pinterest and women’s magazines teem with tips for taking memorable first-day-of-school pictures. Parents love capturing these precious moments and sharing them on social media. If you create a cute vignette or sign outside your shop, families will flock in droves for photos. To get your name front and center in your community, offer a simple incentive (a free flower or bud vase, discounted arrangement, etc.) to visitors who post and tag your business.

Make a display of “desk-sized” goodies. With their stressbusting, mood-boosting, and creativity-enhancing power, plants and flowers make excellent gifts for students and teachers alike. Devote a section of your shop — and website — to selections perfectly sized to fit on a desk. Make customers aware of behavioral research studies conducted by researchers at Harvard, Rutgers, Texas A&M, and the University of North Florida that conclude plants and flowers make people feel better and help them concentrate. (SAF has graphics, photos, and videos you can use in your marketing, and suggested social media posts.)

Connect with the sorority crowd. Are you in a college town? Sororities can present a huge windfall. There are recruitment parties, new member arrangements, formal events (often twice a year), and — if the women stick around after graduation — potential wedding business down the road as well. While it’s likely too late to help with rush this year (and many universities are forgoing the tradition because of the Delta variant of COVID-19), there remain plenty of opportunities for sorority sales. Look up which chapters are active at your local schools and market arrangements in their specific colors/flowers. (This information should be readily available on the school’s panhellenic council webpage.) You can also stock up on sorority-themed giftware. During the pledging period, sisters often shower new members with small items, such as t-shirts, key chains, car decals, jewelry, tote bags, and tumblers.

Market care packages for college kids. Heading off to college can be an emotional time — especially for mom and dad. A care package can ease homesickness and help parents pamper their child. In Bloom Florist in Orlando, Florida has had success with its luxury “Piece of Paradise” gift box. Priced at $125, the care package includes a snake plant, tropical-themed stationery, an orange blossom scented candle, a body scrub, and pineapple-flavored gummy bears.

Katie Vincent is the senior contributing editor for the Society of American Florists.