69% OF CONSUMERS PLAN TO CELEBRATE EASTER, 53% TO BUY CANDY, NUMERATOR REPORTS

CHICAGO, March 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has released new data on Easter 2024 consumer behavior, sourced from verified purchase data and a sentiment survey of over 5,000 consumers on their 2024 holiday intentions. Overall, 69% of consumers plan to celebrate Easter this year, and it is the second-most popular holiday for purchasing candy (after Halloween), with 53% of celebrators intending to buy candy.

Consumer Sentiment Findings Include:

• 69% of consumers plan to celebrate Easter, but plans vary by generation and location. Gen X and Boomers+ are more likely to celebrate Easter overall compared to other generations.
  • Younger generations are more likely to travel and let someone else cook for them. 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 (17% vs. 6% for all consumers)
  • Consumers in Western states take advantage of Easter’s warmer weather. Consumers in the West are more likely to grill or barbeque for Easter, while consumers in the Midwest are more likely to gather with family and friends.
  • Almost all celebration intentions see increased participation compared to last year. 60% 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).
• Easter shoppers plan to fill their baskets with food, candy, and gifts. 95% of Easter shoppers intend to buy something for their holiday celebrations. 69% of celebrators intend to purchase food, and 53% intend to buy candy, making Easter the second most popular holiday for candy purchasing after Halloween.
  • 1 in 5 Easter celebrators will purchase gifts for the holiday. Millennials are more likely to buy gifts than other generations (26% vs. 23% for all consumers).
  • Gen Z is the most likely generation to purchase alcohol. 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%).
  • Grocery stores will see the most Easter shoppers. 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%).

Consumer Purchase Data Findings Include:

• In the four-week lead-up to Easter 2023, nearly half of US households bought Easter chocolate candy.  During this lead up, the majority of US households (86%) bought candy. Among those households, 43% bought Easter chocolate candy, and 33% purchased Easter non-chocolate candy. 65% purchased non-seasonal chocolate candy, and 54% purchased non-seasonal, non-chocolate candy. For all candy, the top brands by sales were perennial favorites: Reese’s, M&M’s, Hershey’s, private label, and Wrigleys.
  • Chocolate bunnies hopped into shoppers’ baskets. Among Easter candy specifically, RM Palmer and Lindt saw large sales increases (+515% and +353%, respectively) in the four-week lead-up to the holiday (compared to the previous four weeks).
  • Candy shoppers shopped everywhere, but they had an eye for discounts. Last year, Walmart, Target, Dollar Tree, Kroger, and Dollar General were the top candy retailers leading up to Easter based on dollar sales–but the biggest sales lifts were seen by discount retailers Aldi (+76%) and Five Below (+60%).
• Easter baskets are filled with more than candy. Shoppers who purchased Easter baskets were 48x more likely to purchase bubbles on the same trip, 29x more likely to purchase clay & dough, 25x more likely to purchase coloring books, 24x more likely to purchase craft kits, and 19x more likely to purchase stickers.

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. Easter candy purchasing data was compiled using Numerator’s 150k household Total Commerce Panel, looking at data from 03/11/2023 to 04/08/2023 versus the prior four weeks.

About Numerator:

Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research.  Numerator blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide 360-degree consumer understanding for the market research industry that has been slow to change. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has 2,000 employees worldwide; 80 of the top 100 CPG brands’ manufacturers are Numerator clients.

Bob Richter
Numerator
212-802-8588
[email protected]