As warmer days and clearer skies sprinkle their way in, it serves as a gentle reminder that the next big holiday is on its way - Easter!
Many countries around the world are calling an end to tight COVID-related restrictions. Families are gearing up to spend this holy holiday together in person for the first time in two years. All of these pose an interesting question for eCommerce merchants. How will people shop now that they’re free to explore the outside world?
In this article, we’ll try to answer this by taking a look at consumer sentiment towards shopping and spending during Easter sales 2022. Together with some predictions, you can be well-prepared for a post-COVID Easter.
This year, it will be the first time in a while that families and friends can spend Easter together worry-free and hassle-free. As a result, people are unsurprisingly eager to embrace the holiday in a pre-pandemic fashion.
In the US, 80% of consumers will celebrate Easter. Over half of them plan to enjoy it in-person with family and friends. To facilitate this celebration, Americans are set to spend $20.8 billion which is only slightly down from projections made last year.
Over in the UK, 63% of Brits are ready to splash their cash for this holiday, spending £877 million - that’s up 8% from 2021. 7 out of 10 Britons are already looking for inspiration to help them celebrate.
Easter spending in the UK (Source: Finder)
Australians are also ready to welcome the long holiday. 73% are looking forward to spending their saved-up cash on things like food, drinks, and travel.
Easter spending in Australia (Source: Savvy)
European countries won’t miss out on Easter spending either. It seems that Europeans are eager to explore during this holiday. Travel within Europe is expected to witness an extremely strong recovery. Travel agents and operators are already reporting an increase in bookings.
Where consumers will go to purchase gifts for Easter won’t differ from last year. 35% will turn to eCommerce stores, 50% will try discount stores, and 41% will go to department stores.
All in all shoppers seem to be feeling overwhelmingly positive when it comes to celebrating Easter 2022. However, with rising inflation taking hold of most of the world, this spending may come with an air of caution.
Shopping over Easter will undoubtedly look different this year, especially seeing how eager consumers are to take advantage of it. So, without further adieu, let’s get into our predictions for Easter shopping in 2022.
Inflation is causing the price of goods to rise. It’s clear that this isn’t going to stop consumers in their tracks from buying Easter-related products. However, they may be warier of how far their money can stretch.
We can expect to see shoppers looking for deals and promotions to make up for inflated prices. In fact, 42% of consumers have already stated that if the price of an Easter-related item is higher than they expected, they’ll head to another retailer for a cheaper offer.
So what does this mean for retailers? It’ll be vital to implement and showcase unmissable sales, promotions, and deals that demonstrate a clear value for money. This will likely be of greater importance if you sell gift items as many gift-givers are set to actively seek out cheaper options.
Shoppers are already looking for Easter-themed ideas so there’s no time like the present to hatch your Easter promotions plan.
Speaking of where customers will spend their cash, the values held by companies or brands seem to be a decisive factor this Easter.
Consumers want to buy from brands that have values that align with their own. Globally, 32% of digital consumers will not compromise on this. A further 27% are ready to boycott a business that doesn’t meet this expectation. With prices climbing across the board, this could carry more weight as shoppers will want to direct their money more carefully.
For retailers to thrive this Easter, they’ll need to go further than having great offers. Illustrating your social and corporate responsibility will also be necessary. To really show your morals to your potential customers, these sorts of initiatives need to be a more long-term strategy. That doesn’t mean you can’t start now though. Simply donating a portion of sales to a charity of your choosing over the Easter period is a good first step.
Clothing brand, Camilla, donates a dollar from every online sale to one of three charities.
Food is going to take center stage as family and friends gather to make up for lost time. Spending on seasonal food and drinks is the main driver in both the US and the UK, so it's likely to dominate the Easter 2022 holiday. With Covid restriction measures being lifted, we can foresee a big return to in-store food shopping. Brick-and-mortar grocers are expected to increase their profits.
This trend already presented itself in the UK during the Christmas period. Online grocery sales dropped by 3.7%, and this was at a time when COVID cases were rapidly rising. As consumers feel more protected from the virus and at less risk of severe disease, it’s safe to assume that brick-and-mortar grocery stores globally will experience a similar increase.
Online shoppers now prefer picking up their orders in person as a result of less hesitation about crowds. This is also to make sure the celebratory plans don’t get foiled by late deliveries which had happened during BFCM 2020 and 2021.
Curbside pickup has been on the rise since the pandemic hit. And it doesn’t look like it will lose its popularity any time soon. In 2022, sales from click-and-collect orders are estimated to top $100 billion, whilst 62% of shoppers expect retailers to offer it as an option.
The days of supply chain issues and long overdue deliveries are still fresh in the minds of consumers. The last thing they’ll want is another special holiday ruined by missing products. Hence, you can expect to see more and more online customers opting to pick up their orders in-store or at a local pickup point.
If you don’t already offer this, look at making in-store pick-up an option for the Easter holidays. Shopify merchants can easily add this option to the admin page.
Add locations like your retail store, curbside, or any other place customers can collect their orders by going to Settings > Shipping and delivery. (Source: Shopify)
As multiple countries relax travel restrictions and Easter grants people a long weekend, there’s a huge incentive for consumers to use this as a time to explore beyond their borders. This will be most pronounced among Europeans, Australians, and US citizens.
The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts an increase of over 250% in intra-European bookings for Easter, and travel reservations from the US to lift by 130%. Australians will mostly be traveling interstate to spend a collective $7.1 billion on these holidays.
With holidays comes holiday shopping. As Easter approaches, expect to see sales of hotels, suitcases, rental cars, and holiday wear like swimsuits, sunglasses, and dresses skyrocket. If you sell holiday-related items, put together a collection of these products to display prominently with Easter-themed imagery so you can attract holidaymakers.
Camilla shows shoppers a collection of holiday dresses on their homepage.
Easter sales 2022 is set to be a big one. Consumers are keen to take hold of the holiday and enjoy it just like they did pre-COVID. The pandemic and rising prices have, however, ingrained changes to how they shop and who they choose to purchase from. Fortunately, we’re here to keep you up to speed with these changes so you can adjust your activities and capitalize on holiday sales.
