Food, candy top Easter shopping lists

Nearly seven-in-10 U.S. consumers plan to celebrate Easter this year, according to a new survey.

Numerator found that 69% of consumers plan to celebrate the spring holiday on March 31, with 95% of those planning to buy something as part of the celebrations. Nearly 70% of celebrators intend to purchase food, and 53% intend to buy candy, making Easter the second most popular holiday for candy purchasing after Halloween.  

Last year, Walmart, Target, Dollar Tree, Kroger and Dollar General were the top candy retailers leading up to Easter based on dollar sales, although the biggest sales increases were seen by discount retailers Aldi (+76%) and Five Below (+60%).

Almost all celebration intentions see increased participation compared to last year. Sixty percent of celebrators plan to gather with family and friends (vs. 57% in 2023), 40% plan to cook or bake (vs. 34% in 2023), and 21% plan to decorate their homes (vs. 19% in 2023). Giving gifts is the only celebration intention that saw a decrease among consumers (18% in 2024 vs. 20% in 2023).

Gen X and Boomers are more likely to celebrate Easter overall compared to other generations. Gen Z and Millennials are twice as likely to say they will travel for the holiday, and Gen Z is almost three times as likely to order food for takeout or delivery on Easter (17% vs. 6% for all consumers).

Other Easter insights from Numerator include the following:

• Millennials are more likely to buy gifts than other generations (26% vs. 23% for all consumers).
• Gen Z is twice as likely to buy alcoholic beverages for the holiday (28% vs. 14% for all consumers). They plan to purchase beer (75%), wine (25%), hard seltzers (25%), champagne or sparkling wine (25%).
• Consumers plan to spend less than $100 on their Easter celebrations, and they plan to spend their dollars at grocery stores (57%), big box stores like Target or Walmart (53%), and online retailers like Amazon (21%).
• In the four-week lead-up to Easter 2023, nearly half of US households bought Easter chocolate candy.

A recent survey from the National Retail Federation found that consumer spending is expected to reach a total of $22.4 billion on Easter this year, the second-highest total since the annual survey began to be conducted.

Numerator’s 2024 Holiday Preview survey was fielded to 5,132 consumers in January 2024 and highlights consumers’ celebration, shopping and spending plans for 14 key holidays through the end of the year. 754 shoppers shared details of their Easter plans.