Projected Easter Spend

 (Marketing Charts) Total consumer spending on Easter is projected to grow to $18.4 billion this year, representing a more than 6% rise from last year’s record forecast of $17.3 billion, according to the NRF. In the past decade, projected retail spending surrounding Easter has grown by $4 billion, as this year the 81% of adults who plan to celebrate the occasion expect to each spend an average of $152. That’s up from the previous high in the survey’s 14-year history, of $146, set last year. The increased spending is attributed to Easter falling several weeks later than usual this year.

To give some context to Easter as a retail event, the planned total spend of $18.4 billion is almost as large as last year’s projection for Mother’s Day spending ($21.4 billion), and is slightly more than this year’s Valentine’s Day spending.

The biggest retail category in terms of dollar spending will be food ($5.8 billion), per the NRF report, followed by clothing ($3.3 billion), gifts ($2.9 billion) and candy ($2.6 billion). The most popular gift purchases are expected to be candy (88.9% buying) and food (87%).
While the proportion of respondents who this year plan to shop online for their Easter purchases has grown from last year (from 21% to 27%), discount stores (58%) and department stores (46%) are far more popular destinations for Easter shopping.

About the Data: The results are based on a survey conducted March 1-9 among 7,411 US adults.

With all the conversation around brick-and-mortar retail in the Midwest, it is good to see a report that consumer spend is overall up and all retail benefits. - Jerry Slusky, partner Smith Slusky Law