Back-to-School on Amazon: 5 Ways to Drive Performance

Back-to-School (BTS) is one of the most competitive, high-intent shopping windows of the year—and Amazon is where that demand shows up first. Parents, students, and teachers aren’t just browsing. They’re checking off lists, replacing last year’s essentials, and racing the clock.

For brands, visibility, relevance, and ease of purchase aren’t optional. If your product isn’t showing up, converting quickly, and staying in stock, you’re not just missing the sale—you’re losing momentum heading into Q4.

Here are five ways to sharpen your Amazon retail media strategy and capture back-to-school demand:

Refresh Your Keyword Strategy 

What to do: Build a keyword strategy that reflects how people actually shop during back-to-school. Use a mix of broad and specific terms tied to real use cases and adapt your strategy as behavior shifts from July into August.

Why it matters: Search is how back-to-school shoppers find what they need. They’re typing in exactly what’s on their list: 7th grade school supplies list, college shower caddy, 10th grade calculator. If your listings don’t match how they search, they won’t show up — hurting click-through rates CTR, product rank, and conversions.

How to implement: 

Use keyword tools like Brand Analytics or Helium 10 to identify current back-to-school terms based on real shopper queries. Then integrate those terms across your PDPs: 

• Product Titles: Keep it concise but include key search terms early. For example, “College Dorm Shower Caddy – Mesh, Portable, Quick-Dry.”
• Bullet Points: Use bullets to reinforce secondary keywords and highlight how your product solves common BTS problems.
• Product Descriptions: Expand on use cases. Speak to who it’s for (e.g., high schoolers, teachers) and how it fits into the BTS routine.
• Backend Search Terms: Add variations, alternate spellings, and long-tail phrases you couldn’t fit elsewhere.
• A+ Content: Adjust copy and swap in visuals that align with BTS themes like classroom scenes, locker organization, or dorm room setups to create a more seasonally relevant experience.

Pro tip: Your Amazon Storefront should follow the same logic. Build sections around specific needs like “Lunchbox Must-Haves,” “Middle School Organization,” or “Dorm Room Setup.” That structure not only improves shopper flow, it helps your Store rank in more relevant searches.

Retarget Shoppers Who Aren’t Done Buying Yet

What to do: Re-engage shoppers who visited your PDPs, browsed your category, or bought part of what they needed but didn’t complete the job.

Why it matters: Back-to-school shopping doesn’t happen all at once. Parents buy in phases, first focusing on the essentials and then the nice-to-haves. College students continue shopping after move-in, and teachers restock supplies as the semester unfolds. These shoppers are mid-journey, familiar with your brand, and more likely to convert. Retargeting them is cheaper and more efficient than finding new customers.

How to implement: 

• Use Sponsored Display or DSP to retarget audiences based on recent engagement. Focus on: 
  • Shoppers who viewed your PDPs in the last 2–3 weeks
  • Browsers in high-intent BTS categories like school supplies and dorm essentials
  • customers who’ve already purchased complementary or replenishable items

• Tailor your creativity to drive urgency. Time-sensitive prompts like “Still need this?”, “Back-to-school isn’t done yet,” and “Last chance for fast delivery” are effective nudges.

Pro tip: Highlight products that usually get forgotten: notebooks, chargers, fans, locker organizers, refill packs. These SKUs convert well, especially when served to an audience already warmed up.

Bundle Products for Value and Convenience

What to do: Use product bundling to make buying faster, easier, and more cost-effective for shoppers working through a checklist.

Why it matters: Most back-to-school shoppers aren’t leisurely browsing, they’re shopping based off of a list. They don’t want to search, compare, and add five separate items to their cart. A well-built bundle removes that friction and raises average order value (AOV) by helping them check off multiple items in one click.

Bundles also benefit performance. They improve session conversion, drive incremental revenue, and open up new keyword opportunities by combining multiple use cases into a single listing.

How to implement: 

• Implement Sponsored Brand campaigns that feature curated product selections and use clear, themed creative that reflects how shoppers actually approach BTS shopping. 
  • Each campaign should:
    • Use straightforward, use-case-driven headlines (e.g., “College Essentials in One Click”)
    • Feature 3–5 complementary products that fulfill a specific need
    • Link to a Storefront page organized around the same theme for a seamless shopping experience

Pro tip: In Sponsored Brand campaigns, use search-friendly terms like “bundle,” “kit,” or “set” in your headlines and product titles. These are high-converting keywords that boost visibility and CTR.

Stay Active While Competition Drops Off

What to do: Keep your ads running and your budget active through August, even if competitors start to pull back.

Why it matters: Many brands burn through budget during Prime Day and then have to pull back as back-to-school shopping begins. But shoppers aren’t done. That means traffic stays high, competition thins out, and cost per click drops. Plus, Amazon’s algorithm rewards consistency: if you stay active, you keep velocity heading into Q4.

How to implement:

• Use your July performance data to double down on SKUs with the highest ROAS
• Reallocate budget from upper funnel (awareness, prospecting) to conversion-driven campaigns
• Prioritize high-intent placements: Sponsored Products on top-performing keywords, DSP for cart abandoners
• Watch for competitor drop-off. If others go dark, raise bids to capture lost share of voice.

Rebuild Your Amazon Storefront

What to do: Rebuild your Storefront to guide shoppers through specific back-to-school needs. Organize it like a curated shopping experience, not a static catalog.

Why it matters: Your Storefront is often the landing page for Sponsored Brand and DSP campaigns. If it’s generic or hard to navigate, shoppers bounce. But when it reflects how they actually think — “What supplies do I still need for 5th grade?” or “What do I need for my dorm that I haven’t bought yet?” — they stay, browse, and convert.

A well-structured Storefront also improves organic visibility. Amazon indexes tab names and category pages, so every relevant phrase helps you rank in BTS search results.

How to implement:

• Organize your Storefront around real-world needs like Dorm Room Setup, Last-Minute School Supplies, or Elementary Classroom Essentials.
• On each tab:
  • Lead with bundles and bestsellers to reduce decision time
  • Use BTS-specific visuals: lockers, backpacks, packing scenes
  • Keep copy functional and focused

• Review Store Insights weekly. Double down on high-performing sections. Cut the ones that aren’t converting.

Pro tip: Your Storefront isn’t just a brand touchpoint—it’s a conversion surface. Every section should help shoppers find, decide, or buy faster.

Winning Back-to-School Starts with Smarter Retail Media

Succeeding in the Back-to-School season on Amazon takes more than just being present. It requires a retail media strategy built around real shopper behavior: how they search, what’s still on their list, and how they expect to buy.

If you’re looking to sharpen your back-to-school execution or build a stronger retail media foundation heading into Q4 WITHIN can help.

 

Author:
Vince Houghton, Associate Director, Retail Media & Marketplace