Although its lags behind the big year-end holidays, Easter is a boom time for many retailers. Consumers will spend $18.4 billion on Easter this year, up 6% to an all-time high.
The amount spent by person will also rise, according to a study from the National Retail Federation (NRF). People who say they celebrate the holiday will spend $152 on average, up 4% year over year.
The record comes after a dip in Easter spending that ran from a recent low of $16 billion in 2014 to this year’s number. Over the period before that, the trend had recovered from the depths of the recession in 2009, when spending was only $12.8 billion, until 2013 when the figure was $17.2 billion.
Why the improvement? NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said of this year’s Easter spending:
Most consumers have almost an entire extra month to shop for Easter this year, and by the time the holiday comes the weather should be significantly warmer than last Easter. That should put shoppers in the frame of mind to splurge on spring apparel along with Easter decorations. With the economy improving, consumers are ready to shop and retailers are ready to offer great deals whether they’re buying Easter baskets or garden tools.
On that basis, the uptick is barely an uptick at all.
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