Americans will spend less this Easter

Americans celebrating Easter plan to spend slightly less on food, candy, gifts, apparel and other items compared to last year ($137.46 vs. $145.13), according to the National Retail Federation’s Easter Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics.

Those who plan to celebrate (80.3% vs. 83% in 2013) will spend the most on groceries for a family dinner or Sunday brunch out; 85.7% will spend an average of $43.18 on a holiday meal, totaling $5 billion.

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Nine in 10 celebrants (89.3%) will stock up on Easter candy, spending $2.2 billion on sweets. Families will also spend on gifts ($2.4 billion), flowers ($1.1 billion) and decorations ($1.1 billion).

Boding well for retailers is warmer weather since Easter falls on a later date than in years past, according to NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay.

“The winter doldrums left consumers with a lot of pent-up demand, and though many Americans may take a cautious approach to spending on Easter items this year, retailers are anticipating that warmer weather will easily put consumers in the mood to buy bright clothes, holiday decorations and more,” he said in a statement.

“As one of the biggest holidays of the year, retailers are looking forward to increased customer traffic in stores and online, and will roll out promotions on everything from garden supplies and patio sets to apparel and grocery items as they help their customers prepare for the holiday.”