Candy to Dominate Hopped-Up 2015 Easter Spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. — For many, the Easter holiday means jelly beans and chocolate bunnies.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), U.S. consumers are planning to spend an average of $140.62 on Easter items this year, up slightly from last year's $137.46. Total spending for the spring holiday is expected to hit $16.4 billion.

Of the 80 percent of consumers who plan to celebrate Easter this year, 87.1 percent say they will buy candy, spending more than $2.2 billion on jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and similar fare.

Meanwhile, 85.7 percent of those who plan to celebrate said they will purchase food for a family meal or other festivity, spending more than $5.3 billion; and 45 percent will purchase clothing, spending more than $2.9 billion on bright-colored apparel.

Many consumers will also take the opportunity to buy gifts ($2.4 billion), flowers ($1.1 billion), decorations ($998 million) and greeting cards ($695 million).

“Easter will be the perfect segue into spring for both consumers and retailers who have longed for warmer weather for quite some time,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “As one of the busiest times of year for several retail sectors, and as shelves begin filling with both traditional spring and holiday merchandise, retailers are looking forward to welcoming shoppers with attractive promotions on home goods, garden equipment and traditional Easter items.”

The NRF 2015 Easter Spending Survey was conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics from March 3-10 and polled 6,106 consumers.

Based in Washington, D.C., NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries.