How to Capitalize on Easter Spending

By Rieva Lesonsky

Good weather in most of the national, along with an increase in in consumer confidence, mean Easter holiday spending is projected to rise substantially from last year, according to NRF’s Easter spending survey, conducted by BIGinsight. The survey found Americans will spend an average of $145.28 on apparel, candy, food and decorations this year, up 11 percent from 2011. Overall Easter spending is expected to reach $16.8 billion.

If your business sells products in the hot Easter categories, you can take advantage of consumers’ appetite. Here are some of the most popular categories:

• Apparel: Nearly half (48.5 percent) of those surveyed said they will buy fashion and accessories, with total spending on those items expected to reach $3.0 billion.
• Sweets: Eighty-nine percent of respondents will buy candy, with an average of $20.35 per person spend on sweet treats.
• Food: The average person will spend $44.34 on the Easter meal, up from $40.05 last year.
• Gifts: Consumers will spend an average of $20.57 on gifts for their friends and family, and more than half will also buy greeting cards.
• Décor: Americans will spend an average of $10.50 on flowers and $9.07 on decorations for the holiday.

There’s some surprising news about how consumers will be shopping for Easter items. The biggest growth is expected to come at online retailers, with nearly two in five (18.7 percent) of consumers indicating they will shop online. That’s up from 14.8 percent last year and just 11.1 percent in 2008. And there’s good news for small retailers both online and off: Although discount stores dominate, shopping at specialty stores is also in the plans for about 35 percent of consumers.

The mobile shopping mania that took hold during the holiday shopping season is also going strong for the Easter holidays. More than half (52.3 percent) of tablet owners who celebrate Easter say they plan to use their device to research and purchase products. Specifically, 25.7 percent say they will purchase something and 36.6 percent plan to research products and compare prices. More than one-quarter (26.3 percent) will look up company and store information, such as store hours and location, and 15.3 percent will use apps to research and purchase products. In addition, 43.3 percent of smartphone owners celebrating Easter say they plan to use their mobile device to research and/or purchase products.

How can you capitalize on Easter spending plans?

• Use in-store displays to group related products together and encourage more spending. If you sell candy or food, place spring-themed décor, cards or gift wrap nearby.
• Use ecommerce tools to serve up related products when consumers shop for Easter-related merchandise like candy, spring décor or apparel.
• Make sure your business is easy to find in online search and that your website is mobile-friendly so consumers on the go can find your store.
• Offer Easter- or spring-themed discounts, sales and specials.
• Keep in mind, even people who don’t celebrate Easter are looking for products to beautify their homes, freshen up their wardrobes and generally celebrate the arrival of spring, so now is the time to market gardening supplies, home décor or home improvement products and more.

Image by Flickr user Stiefen Schlingen (Creative Commons)

This entry was posted on Friday, March 30th, 2012 at 6:00 am and is filed under Marketing, sales process, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.