Not even the Easter Bunny can stay above the recession’s rough waters.
According to the National Retail Federation’s “2009 Easter Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey,” conducted by BIGresearch, consumers in the U.S. will spend an average of $116.59 on candy, gifts, foods and decorations this Easter. This reflects a 13.7 percent decline from the $135.03 spent per consumer last year.
A total of $12.73 billion is expected to be spent this Easter.
This would mean that the average U.S. consumer is spending the least on Easter since 2005, when $96.51 was the average spending for the holiday.
The biggest Easter-related cost is the holiday meal, on which consumers plan on spending $37.67 on food this year, compared to $41.09 last year.
Spending on gifts is expected to drop to $17.30 this year compared to $21.42 in 2008. Spending on candy is also expected to decline to $16.55 from $18.12 last year, while spending on flowers will drop to $7.55 from $9.11 last year.
To add to all this, the average U.S. consumer is expected to spend $19.44 on new spring attire this year, down from $23.82 last year, despite Easter falling three weeks later than it did in 2008.
Discount stores will the most popular destination for Easter spending, with 64.0 percent of respondents indicating that they plan on purchasing holiday items there, up from 58.8 percent last year.
Nearly a third of respondents said they would purchase Easter items at department stores, while 22.5 percent will spend at specialty stores, 11.4 percent will spend online, 5.9 percent will spend at a specialty clothing store and 3.7 percent will spend by way of a catalog.
“With Easter falling so late this year, retailers will have plenty of time to entice shoppers with deals on spring apparel and other Easter merchandise,” said Tracy Mullin, CEO and president of NRF. “Retailers are hopeful that a late Easter will bring warmer weather and put shoppers in the mood to buy clothing, flowers and other holiday gifts.”
eMarketer notes that these NRF/BIGresearch figures are supported by a survey conducted by IBISWorld, which expects Easter spending to drop 8 percent.
That report notes that spending on Easter clothing, candy, flowers, decorations, food and greeting cards will drop to $13.6 billion this year from $14.8 billion last year.
Sources:</strong
http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=698
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