What are your plans for Easter this year?
The average person celebrating Easter will spend $140.62, slightly more than last year’s $137.46, according to a survey conducted for National Retail Federation.
Total spending for Easter, which includes purchases of apparel, decorations, gifts, candy, food, flowers and more, is expected to reach $16.4 billion.
Forty-five percent of those celebrating will purchase clothing, spending more than $2.9 billion on apparel items for themselves and their families, according to the survey. However, more people plan to buy food for the holiday: 85.7 percent will purchase food for a family meal or other festivity, spending more than $5.3 billion on Easter fare.
For Easter candy, 87.1 percent of those celebrating say they’ll buy candy, spending more than $2.2 billion on jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, and chick-shaped Peeps. Consumers this holiday will also spend $2.4 billion on gifts, $1.1 billion on flowers, $998 million on decorations, and $695 million on greeting cards.
On Easter activities, the survey found nearly six in 10 plan to visit with friends and family, half will go to church, and 12.9 percent plan to open gifts. Three in 10 adults will plan a special Easter egg hunt for the children. In additional, 15 percent of those celebrating will go to a restaurant to celebrate the holiday and 24.1 percent will browse the Web throughout the day.
Busy Easter shoppers will take advantage of their mobile devices to help them find meal items, gifts, candy, and other items. According to the survey, 21.4 percent of those who own smartphones and are planning to celebrate Easter will use their phone to research products and/or compare prices, and another 13.5 percent will purchase items with their smartphone.
Whatever your plans are for Easter, I hope you have a great celebration.
