Consumers ready to set record for Easter spending

CARSON CITY — With Easter just days away, consumers in Nevada are hopping online and into stores to celebrate the popular spring holiday.

According to estimates from the Retail Association of Nevada (RAN), Nevadans are expected to spend a record $281.6 million celebrating Easter this year, which represents an increase of 7.7 percent* compared to $261.6 million last year.

“Easter spending rose over 7 percent last year, setting a record, and 2017 looks to once again set new heights in Easter spending,” said Bryan Wachter, Senior Vice President of RAN. “Warm weather and a positive consumer outlook bodes well for another strong Easter season.”

Easter meals will lead the way in Silver State spending with an estimated $88.9 million, followed by clothing ($46.1 million), gifts ($45.0 million), candy ($39.5 million) and flowers ($19.1 million), according to RAN. Easter decorations will take in $16.3 million, with greeting cards ($12.1 million) and miscellaneous items ($10.1 million) rounding out the total spending.

The latest estimates are based on a recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF), which found that 81.3 percent of consumers nationwide plan to celebrate Easter this year. According to the NRF, celebrants will spend an average of $152.00 on holiday items this year, up 4.1 percent from $146.00 last year. Additionally, total spending nationwide is expected to increase 6.2 percent year-over-year to a record $18.4 billion.

Candy is the most popular spending category, according to the NRF, as 88.7 percent of survey respondents will head to stores this week to buy $2.6 billion worth of chocolate bunnies, jelly beans and marshmallow chicks. Food came in a close second in popularity (87.0 percent) but easily came in at the top for overall spending ($5.8 billion). Other popular categories include gifts (60.9 percent), greeting cards (48.4 percent) and clothing (45.3 percent), with consumers nationwide expected to spend $2.9 billion, $788 million and $3.3 billion on these items, respectively. Decorations (42.5 percent), flowers (39.2 percent) and miscellaneous items (22.9 percent) make up the other major purchases.

The most popular shopping destination remains the discount store, with 58.3 percent of celebrants planning to go there for supplies. Department stores will be visited by 45.7 percent of consumers, followed by small businesses (26.8 percent), florists, gift stores and other specialty shops (26.4 percent), online (25.1 percent), specialty clothing stores (11.1 percent) and catalogs (2.8 percent).

*Growth in spending includes the impacts of Nevada’s population growth.