According to a survey by the National Retail Federation that surveys the United States’ annual Easter spending, this year Americans are expected to spend a record breaking $18.4 billion. Last year, Americans spent $17.3 billion which means that this represents a 6% increase.
“Most consumers have almost an entire month to shop for Easter this year, and by the time the holiday comes the weather should be significantly warmer than last Easter,” said Matthew Shay, NRF president and CEO. “That should put shoppers in the frame of mind to splurge on spring apparel along with Easter decorations.”
This weekend will be even busier in the US according to research done by PCA Predict. Their figures suggest that this year will see online transactions over Easter rise by as much as 17%, with Easter Monday being the busiest day with sales on that day expected to be up by as much as 20%. The research by PCA Predict suggests that almost half of these online sales will be done on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Chris Harle, chief operating officer at PCA Predict, said: “Traditionally, Bank Holiday Monday is one of the busiest days of the year for online shopping, and we are expecting this year to be no different.
“This year, we are expecting to see online transactions via mobile reaching an estimated 49% over Easter weekend. This is a 10% increase on the same time last year as shoppers become more accustomed to shopping on their mobile devices. With good weather in sight, it is likely that mobile shoppers will continue to make purchases out in the sunshine via smartphone or tablet. However, with spring time such a difficult period to predict no one can say for definite whether April showers will encourage people to stay indoors. We are also likely to see consistent mobile usage throughout the day, including over the dinner table, with few dramatic spikes.”
In the UK, Easter is also expected to be a boom time for retailers both online and offline. High street footfall is expected to increase by nearly 9% according to footfall specialists Springboard. Its expected that April will be the first month that will see an increase of shoppers in shopping centres, retail parks and high streets after six months of consecutive decline. Diane Wehrle of Springboard explained:
“Last year Easter took place on 25 March, a few days in advance of national payday for many shoppers. This combined with poor weather conditions, impacted footfall, which declined across retail destinations from Easter Saturday onwards. Mild spring weather is forecast for this Easter, which falls after the national payday. This strongly indicates that more shoppers will visit retail destinations over the weekend compared with last year.”
However this rise in traditional retail sales is set to pale in comparison with the increase of online shopping over Easter, with nearly half of all purchases expected to be made by via mobile phones.
