Present.com Easter Gifting Report 2024

Easter has been celebrated around the globe as far back as the 2nd century! In this report, we’ll cover the latest Easter gifting trends, the popularity of Easter greeting cards, and how much America loves its candy amongst other interesting Easter gift related topics and infographics.

Our Methodology

We analyzed various sources of publicly available data relating to Easter gifting and provided our own insights. All of our sources are referenced below.

America’s Easter Gift Spend

According to a recent survey conducted by NRF, people are expected to spend $3.4 billion on Easter gifts this year [1], down 11.7% from last year’s $3.8 billion. Individuals are anticipated to spend an average of $27.18 each on gifts alone.
Easter gifting takes up an average of 15% of people’s total easter budget [1].

Our team worked out overall Easter gift spend and per person gift spending over the years adjusted for inflation, and this is what we found:

In the graph above, we can see an uptrend in both total per-person spend and per-person spend adjusted for inflation, which means consumers are spending more on Easter gifts overall. However, things could be taking a turn as consumers appear to be tightening their belts [2].  Although here is evidence [3] to suggest that this is changing.

Above, we see the exact same trend with overall spend as expected, with real term spending increasing over the pandemic period.

Physical Stores vs Online Shopping

Analysts have long predicted the demise of brick and mortar stores, and the evidence has supported these claims in previous years. But could these stores be back on the rise? We analyzed Easter gifting data to find out.
The most visited places for Easter gifts in 2024 will be discount stores at 53%, department stores at 40%, online at 33%, small business at 22% and specialty stores at 20%. These numbers are very similar to last year’s intentions [4]. Below, we have plotted people’s intended purchase destinations over time and compiled the following:

The above chart shows that, surprisingly, a higher percentage of people intend to shop in person than intending to shop online for their Easter gifts this year. People doing their Easter gift shopping at department stores are also increasing, going up 5% from 2021’s figure of 48%, and the number of people shopping online for their Easter gifts has been steadily decreasing. 

This trend could be due to people getting out more after the pandemic. 

Unsurprisingly, as the inflation and debt crisis grips America, more and more people are turning to discount stores for their Easter gifts.

How Generous Are People at Easter?

Compared to pre-pandemic, more people appear to be purchasing items for Easter. The amount of people buying gifts, for example, has risen 3% since 2019, to 62%. That’s almost 10 million more people buying gifts for Easter in the USA!

A higher percentage of people intend to spend more on nearly all categories this year than pre-pandemic levels. The only category on the decline is greeting cards.

Easter Greeting Cards 

There was once a time where all holidays were dominated by greetings cards – the go-to gift for every occasion. However this has drastically changed in recent times, with more Easter greeting cards being left on the shelves in preference for an alternative Easter gift. Could Easter Greeting cards be a thing of the past or could this gift tradition be saved?

Easter Greeting Card Popularity

According to Hallmark [5], 40 million Easter greeting cards are exchanged every year making Easter the fifth biggest card giving holiday of the year. However, The Greeting Card Association says Easter only makes up approximately 0.9% of the American Greeting Card Market [6]. In comparison, 6.5 billion greeting cards are sent out by Americans every year according to a 2019 Statista Poll [7] , with another poll in 2021 showing the average American spending $29 a year [8] on holiday greeting cards alone.

However, as previously mentioned, Easter greeting cards have drastically dropped in popularity since 2007 [1]. From 59% of people purchasing Easter greeting cards in 2007 to only 45% in 2024, that’s a whooping decrease of 14%!

Easter Greeting Card Spending Behavior

While the percentage of consumers purchasing Easter greeting cards is declining, the amount spent per person and overall amount appear to be on a slight upward trend. Easter greeting card spending per person in 2024 is predicted to be $7.97, down 14% from $9.12 last year. 

• Interestingly, the amount in 2007 was $7.59. However, by adjusting Easter greeting card spending over time for inflation, we can see what appears to be a downward trend forming, so the next few years could be crucial.
• For example, Easter greeting card spending per person in 2007 was the equivalent of $11.36 in today’s money, a massive 42% more than predicted to be spent on Easter greeting cards in 2024.

The NRF estimated [9] that $1 billion will be spent on Easter greeting cards in 2024. This is the 4th highest year on record falling from highs of 1.1 billion last year.

The Demand for Easter Greeting Cards

With the shrinking popularity of Easter cards, and the adjusted for inflation spend being much lower than 2007, are Easter greeting cards soon to become a thing of the past?

Maybe not, as 

• The greeting card market, in general, is still predicted to grow in size [10]. 

• Research from The Greeting Card Association shows that 8 in 10 people [11] believe that greeting cards cannot be replaced by social media.

According to USPS and the Household Diary Study [12], 2.3 billion greeting cards were mailed out in 2019.

Gift Cards Alongside Greeting Cards

One factor that could help the greeting card market grow is the gift card market [13]. Gift Cards are increasing in popularity. 

• This Statista poll shows 43% of Americans [14] intended to purchase Gift Cards over the holiday season 2022. 
• Shopify x Gallup put that number as high as 60% [15]. 
• The NRF found similar to the former at 44% [16]. 
• Hallmark recently teamed up with Venmo [17] to offer greeting cards with cash (Almost like a more personal gift card).

Can Millennials Save The Greeting Card Industry?

Millennials (Aged 27 – 42) are key consumers in most industries. This generation could be integral to the continued growth of the greeting card industry.

Baby Boomers buy the most greeting cards [11]. However, millennials are out-purchasing them in terms of spend, spending the most on greeting cards since 2015. This leaves hope that people will continue to buy greeting cards into the future. 
Interestingly, women purchase 80% [11] of all greeting cards in America.

Who Receives The Most Easter Gifts?

Easter is highly celebrated in the USA, but gift giving at Easter isn’t as popular as other holidays like Christmas. Who do we feel most inclined to buy Easter gifts for?

A 2018  survey of 1,011 respondents by Statista [18] found that the second most popular Easter gift recipient was nobody, with over a quarter of respondents not planning on buying a gift for anybody! Perhaps the increase in spend since 2018 shows that people have been more generous in recent years. 

This study also showed that Coworkers and Neighbors had the least luck, with only 1 in 50 people planning on gifting them. This Easter, give your neighbors and coworkers a gift; they deserve it! Recent research from Wells Fargo [19] shows that most Americans helped their neighbors an average of 6 times in the past year – with 77% of people doing so at least once. Neighbors deserve more of your thanks and appreciation. The same goes for Coworkers, whom we often forget about. A 2019 study by YouGov [20] found that that number is only slightly over 1 in 10 at Christmas time. 

1 in 10 people also use the occasion as an excuse to buy themselves a gift! [18] Rakuten [21] found this to be 27% of people overall at special occasions throughout the year. 

Mintel found in 2015 [22] that 18% of UK adults planned on buying themselves an Easter egg, which we count as a gift to self.  
Children are the most likely to receive an Easter gift [18], with 48% of people opting to buy an Easter gift for a child.

Interestingly, according to a 2021 poll by OnePoll on behalf of HI-CHEW [23], 60% of parents still planned on sending their adult children Easter Baskets after they moved out.
According to the NRF [24], men out-purchase women in most Easter spending categories. The most considerable difference is in gifts, where they spend $12 more than women, a whopping 48% difference. This is also the same with Christmas gifts [25], where men spend $66 more than women, which is almost a 30% difference. Bread Financial found this is relative to 31% of men expecting an extravagant gift [26] from their significant other over the holidays, compared to only 15% of women.

Warning: Be Careful What You Gift This Easter Holiday

This report [26] also revealed the outstanding figure that roughly 12% of people aged 18 – 43 have been dumped over a lousy holiday gift! We’d love to hear any stories you have about this. Have you dumped someone or have been dumped due to a gift?

Do You Buy Flowers At Easter?

Flowers make a great Easter gift, according to our research. Are you one of the many people planning to buy somebody flowers this Easter?

$1.6 billion is expected to be spent on flowers this Easter [27], down 6.25% from last year’s record high of $1.7 billion. 
This year [1], the NRF found the percentage of people buying flowers for Easter had jumped from 38% in 2019 to 43% in 2023. Easter flower gifting has hit its highest level since 2007 during the pandemic, and its rise seems to continue.

Half of men planned on buying flowers as an Easter gift in 2023 [24], compared to 38% of women. Men spend $10 more than women on flowers over the Easter season. This is a vast change to research from 2015 – 2016 which showed 26% of flower buyers were men and 74% were women. While this data is not directly comparable, it shows that a higher percentage of men purchase flowers over the Easter holidays.
Recent research by Interflora [28] found that a third of men fear going to a flower store! Maybe this increase in sales is due to the increasing ease with which flowers can be ordered without setting foot in a physical store.

Easter Candy Gifts

Everything in moderation, that’s what we are all told. This isn’t the case at Easter! Check out these interesting figures about all things sweet.

Dentists, Look Out!

The USA loves Easter. But not as much as your local dentist, or at least their business does.

The NRF [1] predicts that spending on candy will hit $3.1 billion in America this year, just slightly lower than last year’s record high of $3.3 billion. 89% of people surveyed planned to buy candy, the same percentage as intending to buy food, especially for Easter. A 2019 Statista poll put this number at 87% [30], which more closely aligns with the NRF survey.
This Easter, the average candy spend will be $24.78 [1]. We analyzed total candy spend, and per person candy spend data over the years and adjusted for inflation, and this is what we found:

The graphs above show an upward trend, but less steep than without inflation adjustment.
According to the NCA [31], in 2024, 85% of people who make Easter baskets plan to include chocolate and candy. Chocolate Eggs or Bunnies are the most popular Easter basket item, followed by candy-coated eggs, jelly beans, and marshmallow candy.

Do The UK and The US Have Different Taste Buds?

When it comes to chocolate eggs, The NCA found 35% of Americans prefer their eggs [32] filled with caramel, peanut butter, or chocolate, and 42% claimed they liked their eggs solid. However this is very uncommon in the UK, as the eggs people are most accustomed to in the UK are hollow, with only 23% of Americans saying this is their favorite type of chocolate egg.

Should We Be Talking to Kids More About Moderation?

According to Wallethub [33], 3 in 4 parents planned to discuss moderation with their children on Easter in 2023, and 1 in 6 parents admitted to not monitoring their children’s candy intake. 

This is down from 2016 when the NCA found that 91% of parents [34] would talk to their children about moderation. 

Are we being too relaxed with our children? Should we be moderating their candy intake more this Easter?

Are You One of These Parents? Shame On You!

According to a 2014 NCA survey [35], a whopping 81% of parents steal Easter candy from their children, stop stealing from your children!

Easter Candy in the UK

Business Waste UK say 10% [36] of UK’s entire yearly chocolate spend goes on Easter Eggs.

Conclusion

Despite shifting buying behaviors, Easter will continue dominating the gift-giving market as a widely celebrated religious and cultural holiday. Flowers and candy being the most popular gifts for Easter, with spending on both remaining high over the years. The rise in flower gifting for Easter during the pandemic shows that people are finding new ways to celebrate and connect with loved ones, even in difficult times. 

Easter represents a significant period of celebration, generosity, and indulgence. But that does not excuse the high percentage of parents stealing their children’s candy – let them enjoy their Easter treats in peace!

References:

1. NRF | Easter Data Center | Retrieved from: https://nrf.com/research-insights/holiday-data-and-trends/easter/easter-data-center
2. CNBC | Despite strong economy, Americans are spending less: ‘I feel like I’m always holding my breath’ | Retrieved from: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/22/despite-strong-economy-americans-are-spending-less.html 
3. US Bank | How does consumer spending impact the health of the economy? | Retrieved from: https://www.usbank.com/investing/financial-perspectives/market-news/consumer-spending.html
4. NRF | How shoppers are planning to spend on Easter 2024 | Retrieved from: https://nrf.com/blog/how-shoppers-are-planning-spend-easter-2024
5. Hallmark | Easter | Retrieved from: https://corporate.hallmark.com/holidays-occasions/easter/
6. Greeting Card Association | Facts & Stats 2019 | Retrieved from: https://www.greetingcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Greeting-Card-Facts-09.25.19.pdf 
7. Statista | Average planned holiday expenditure on greeting cards and postage in the United States from 2004 to 2021 | Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/479827/holiday-spending-on-greeting-cards-and-postage/
8. Statista | Average planned holiday expenditure on greeting cards and postage in the United States from 2004 to 2021| Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/479827/holiday-spending-on-greeting-cards-and-postage/
9. NRF | Easter Spending Expected to Reach Record $24 Billion | Retrieved from: https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/easter-spending-expected-reach-record-24-billion
10. Grand View Research | Greeting Cards Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (eCard, Traditional Card), By Distribution Channel (Online, Offline), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 – 2030 | Retrieved from: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/greeting-cards-market-report
11. Greeting Card Association | Greeting Cards – Info to Know | Retrieved from: https://greetingcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Greeting-Card-Facts-2020.pdf
12. US Postal Service / Household Diary Study | Mail volume shows growth for cards | Retrieved from: https://news.usps.com/2019/09/20/greet-news/
13. WalletHub | Gift Card Statistics | Retrieved from: https://wallethub.com/edu/gift-card-market-size/25590
14. Statista  | Consumers who have purchased or plan to purchase gift cards worldwide during the holiday season in 2022, by country | Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351067/gift-card-shoppers-worldwide-by-country/#:~:text=Across%20the%2012%20markets%20analyzed,at%20just%20under%2030%20percent.
15. Shopify x Gallop  | Shoppers Plan to Buy for Themselves This Holiday Season | Retrieved from: https://news.gallup.com/poll/513788/shoppers-plan-buy-themselves-holiday-season.aspx
16. NRF | Latest NRF Survey Shows Top Picks for Toys and Gifts for the Winter Holidays | Retrieved from: https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/latest-nrf-survey-shows-top-picks-toys-and-gifts-winter-holidays
17. The Verge | Hallmark and Venmo will let people send cash with greeting cards | Retrieved from: https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/30/23852220/hallmark-venmo-cash-giftcards-cards
18. Statista | Who are you going to give an Easter gift to this year? | Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/815799/gift-giving-at-easter-in-the-united-states
19. Wells Fargo | Survey: Americans Are Helping Neighbors – and Want to Do Even More | Retrieved from: https://newsroom.wf.com/English/news-releases/news-release-details/2024/Survey-Americans-Are-Helping-Neighbors–and-Want-to-Do-Even-More/default.aspx
20. YouGov | More Americans plan to buy holiday gifts for their pets than for their co-workers | Retrieved from: https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/26694-holiday-gifts-for-pets-not-coworkers
21. Rakuten / Retail Wire | Is Self-Gifting a Year-Round Trend?  | Retrieved from: https://retailwire.com/discussion/is-self-gifting-a-year-round-trend/
22. Mintel / Food Manufacture |Easter eggs – too good to save for children: Mintel  | Retrieved from: https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2015/04/01/Easter-eggs-not-just-for-children
23. SWNS Digital / OnePoll/ HI-CHEW | American parents are keeping the ‘Easter spirit’ alive by mailing their older kids gift baskets | Retrieved from: https://swnsdigital.com/us/2020/04/american-parents-are-keeping-the-easter-spirit-alive-by-mailing-their-older-kids-gift-baskets/
24. NRF | Seeds planted for record-high Easter spending | Retrieved from: https://nrf.com/blog/seeds-planted-record-high-easter-spending
25. The Mirror / Couponbirds | Men spend more money on Christmas presents than women, a study claims | Retrieved from: https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/men-spend-more-money-christmas-178072
26. Yahoo / Bread Financial | Gift-giving raises the relationship stakes for men and women during the holidays | Retrieved from: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gift-giving-raises-the-relationship-stakes-for-men-and-women-during-the-holidays-183528229.html
27. NRF | 2024 Easter Spending Expected to Top $22 Billion | Retrieved from:https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/2024-easter-spending-expected-top-22-billion
28. Interflora | Valentine’s Day panic: Why Gen Z men are scared of florists | Retrieved from:https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/valentines-day-panic-gen-z-32110424
29. Society Of American Florists| Valentine’s Day Floral Statistics | Retrieved fromhttps://safnow.org/aboutflowers/holidays-occasions/valentines-day/valentines-day-floral-statistics/
30. Statista | Share of consumers planning to buy gifts for Easter in the United States in 2019, by category | Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1003556/easter-gift-purchasing-plans-by-type-us-consumers/
31. NCA | 85% of people who make Easter baskets include chocolate and candy | Retrieved from: https://candyusa.com/professional-groups/nca-digital-impact-group/#!jig[1]/ML/49223
32. NCA | What’s the best kind of chocolate Easter egg? | Retrieved from: https://candyusa.com/professional-groups/nca-digital-impact-group/#!jig[1]/ML/49226