“Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin’ down the bunny trail, hippity hop, Easter’s on its way!” If you’ve somehow managed to avoid that little spring jingle, it’s bound to get stuck in your head now. That’s right – it’s time to get your baskets ready for one of the most fun-filled, candy-riddled holidays of all: Easter. And, if you’re like the majority of Americans, you’re looking forward to a big-time celebration this year.
Easter is huge. Not only is it the first springtime holiday of the year, but it symbolizes the season of growth. The temperature is finally above freezing, the flowers are starting to bloom, and shoppers are out and about looking to start the season off right with everything from a new look, to a new take on home renovations, to a brand-new house.
According to Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers founder and CEO, “The economy is expected to grow by 3.3% this year, up almost a full percentage point over 2014. For this reason and others, I think that generally speaking, consumers are more confident this spring than in years past.”
There’s no penny pinching going on this year, either. Consumer confidence is up. According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Easter Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, consumers plan to dig deep into their pockets and spend their hard-earned cash. In fact, shoppers will spend a whopping $16.4 billion on decorations, gifts, candy, food, flowers and more!
The Easter item invasion is already in full swing, and in some places, it has been for a few weeks. If you’ve been to the store lately, you can’t ignore the holiday section. We’re talking rows stacked floor to ceiling with bright, pastel-colored stuffed bunnies, chocolate eggs and countless flavors of jellybeans. And where there are jellybeans, there are America’s favorite chick-shaped Peeps. It sounds crazy, but enough Peeps are produced in one year to circle the earth three times!
With more than 87% of people planning to buy candy, the NRF expects candy sales to top more than $2.2 billion. That’s a whole lot of people with sweet-tooth cravings. It makes sense though, because Easter trails Halloween as the second-selling confectionery holiday, according to the National Confectioners’ Association. But that’s not all: Shoppers will also spend $2.4 billion on gifts, $1.1 billion on flowers, $998 million on decorations and $695 million on greeting cards!
Schrage says he’s confident this spending trend will continue into the year. “As long as the unemployment rate continues to trend downward and the real estate market continues to improve, consumers will continue to spend money.”
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