Mass market retailers in the U.S. are plying shoppers with offers for computers, clothes and other back-to-school essentials at affordable prices. To seal the deal, they are marketing “buy now, pay later” services as a way for customers to spread out the cost of going back to class in style. Companies and analysts say the strategies for securing sales are on display to coax consumers into spending during the retail world’s second-most important period behind the winter holidays. Even as inflation has come down, the costs of food, rent, healthcare and other necessities remain much higher than before the pandemic. And high interest rates are making it more expensive to carry credit card balances.
