Retailers Hope Back-To-School Means Big Bucks

Back-to-school season may not be considered an official holiday, but the droves of parents relieved to send their kids off to get an education after a long summer at home may disagree. So might US retailers, who are hoping to hawk everything from pencils and paper to iPads and mobile phones all in the name of education. This year back-to-school sales are expected to bring in record amounts of cash and the advertising campaigns promoting them have already begun.

Mid-July may sound early to begin planning for back-to-school shopping, but retailers are beginning to advertise for the event earlier than ever this year in hopes of gaining a larger slice of Americans' back-to-school spending. The

sees parents across the country spending around $68 billion on their children's supplies this year and the average family's spending during this period has already risen by about 42 percent since 2005.

Big name retailers began advertising their back-to-school specials as early as the 4th of July weekend this year.

shelled out $17.9 million on school supply advertising this year and

spent a whopping $35 million trying to lure parents into it's stores.

is also getting in on the game with its own back-to-school specials as more and more students require technology for their studies.