How demand for school supplies in Kazakhstan changes ahead of the new academic year, Yandex Ads Study

Yandex Ads has examined how demand among users in Kazakhstan for school-related goods changes before and after the start of the new academic year. To conduct the study, the company’s analysts examined data on queries submitted to Yandex Search in Kazakhstan in 2024 and 2025.

Changes in demand across product categories

In July, the number of queries related to school uniforms on Yandex Search increases by 88%compared with the average monthly volume of such queries over the year. In August, users in Kazakhstan show increased interest not only in school uniforms but also in other products required for education: the number of queries related to backpacks, bags and school satchels increases by 79%, while queries related to other children’s clothing and footwear rise by 28%.

Users who search for school uniforms in August also show interest in other products for children. 95%of them use Yandex Search to look for other types of clothing, 32% for cosmetics, 29% for footwear, and 17% for educational electronics.

Within the electronics category, user demand increases significantly for certain product segments, both before and after the start of the academic year. In the third quarter, the number of queries related to tablets on Yandex Search is 3 times higher than in the second quarter, while queries related to smartphones double. In addition, queries related to computers and laptops increase by 57%, while queries concerning other computer equipment and electronic devices rise by 42%.

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Kazakhstan users also actively search for furniture for schoolchildren both before and after the start of the academic year. In August, the number of queries related to such furniture increases by 28%compared with the average monthly level for the year; the same increase is recorded in September. Although interest in school furniture begins to decline from September onwards, it remains elevated through November compared with other months of the year.

“The demand trends indicate that brands in Kazakhstan should promote school-related products not only at the beginning of the academic year, but also throughout the summer and autumn months. Advertising campaigns should combine brand-building media tools with performance metrics and retargeting in order to encourage purchases among both new customers and consumers who are already familiar with the seller’s products. A brandformance approach based on Yandex ecosystem services can help businesses establish integrated communication throughout the entire customer journey — from the user’s initial search query to placing a delivery order through Go or selecting the optimal route in Maps to the relevant store,”, Head of Advertising Product Development at Yandex Ads in Central Asia Adilbek Kadirbayev said.

New audiences and experienced buyers

As 1 September approaches, the number of users searching for school-related products on Yandex Search for the first time during the entire study period since the beginning of 2024 increases significantly. In July and August, the share of such users increases by approximately 65% every two weeks.

Companies selling educational and school-related products should take this factor into account and promote their product range throughout the entire period. This can help businesses attract customers who may not have paid any attention to their offerings just two weeks earlier.

Alongside the new audience, there are also experienced users - consumers who search Yandex for school-related products not only during the summer months but also in the preceding months. From June through August, each of these users submits an average of 35 queries per month related to finding educational and school supplies.

Considering both new and experienced audiences, each user accounts for an average of 17 queries per month over the summer. For buyers in both groups, the average period from the initial search query to purchase is 14 days.

Increase in business activity

With the start of the new academic year, business activity among companies selling school-related products also increases in Kazakhstan. For example, in September 2025, companies’ and individual entrepreneurs’ advertising expenditure on Yandex Search increased by 14% compared with the average level recorded across all months of the year.

By advertising format, 29% of the budgets of businesses in Kazakhstan are allocated to video advertising on Yandex Ads, 26% to display banners, 11% to geo-targeted display advertising, and 34% to other formats.