Consumers embrace traditional items for back-to-school.

* Most consumers plan to spend $500 or less this year on back-to-school shopping, according to the Back-to-School Consumer Purchase Intent survey by The NPD Group, Inc., Port Washington, NY. Thirty-one percent said they plan to spend more than $500. In the study, NPD predicts traditional back-to-school items like clothing, shoes, backpacks and school supplies will experience healthy sales increases this year.

Consumers indicated they plan to spend more in certain categories than last year, such as clothing (36%), school supplies (30%), shoes (28%) and skin care/cosmetics (21%). Sixty-six percent of consumers surveyed said school requirements greatly influenced their purchase decisions.

In other news, research suggests men have a need for speed at the fragrance counter. Eighty-seven percent of men who wear fragrances believe some form of reorganization at the fragrance counter would significantly help them when choosing and purchasing a fragrance, according to The NPD Group's NPD Beauty FragranceTrack 2003. The men's study also indicated 53% of all men wear' a fragrance at least once a week and 74% of fragrance wearers purchase fragrances for themselves. As for the counter reorganization, 46% suggested fragrance shopping would be easier if each brand's fragrances were grouped together, while 38% said fragrances should be sorted by scent, similar to the way liquor stores organize liquors into whiskeys, vodkas, rums, etc.