Easter Sunday—the most important holiday on the Christian calendar, observing Jesus’s death and resurrection—has become a massive opportunity for the retail industry. More than $22 billion in spending is expected this year, according to the latest survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights and Analytics. But those purchases just might have more to do with buying a Rabbit than celebrating a Christian savior.
The total spending figure projected for 2024 is the second highest in the survey’s history, following last year’s record-setting $24 billion, when the Easter holiday observance came nine days later in the year. And while most Americans polled said they would celebrate the holiday this year at an average spending clip of $177.06 per person, many will not be carrying over that observance with a trip to church.
“The decline of Easter is related to the fact that no one even knows what it’s about and thinks it is all eggs and bunnies. You used to have the Creaster Christians (those who only attend service on Christmas and Easter) and now even that group is going away. It’s partially a statement on declining church attendance broadly, but that attendance was not the heart of Christianity anyway—it was about making grandmothers happy and taking moms out for brunch,” Dr. David Kotter, dean of the School of Theology at Colorado Christian University, said to The Epoch Times.
According to Statista’s latest survey on the issue in 2022, only 37 percent of those celebrating Easter will actually attend church that day.
What they will be doing, according to the NRF, is shelling out billions for food ($7.3 billion), clothing ($3.5 billion), and gifts ($3.4 billion). Candy spending is expected to reach $3.1 billion this year, and another $1.6 billion on flowers.
“In terms of the adult population, our first question was, ‘Do you celebrate it?’ and 81 percent said, ’Yes.' Then we asked a follow-up for those who said yes and asked if they’d be going to church and of the people celebrating. We found that fewer than half would be attending church,” said Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist.
“From a commercial viewpoint, Christmas has some of the same challenges,” he told The Epoch Times.
According to the National Confectioners Association (NCA), Easter has become the second-most popular candy-buying observance, following Halloween. The NCA reports that chocolate and candy sales this Easter season will be over $5 billion.
That number will also be heightened by the increasing cost of chocolate this year. Cocoa futures have risen exponentially this year, doubling since the start of 2024 due to rising temperatures and weather conditions, damaging crops in West Africa. That area of the world produces more than 70 percent of the global cocoa supply. Sugar prices are also up, with futures for a pound of sugar up 8 percent in 2024, a year after a jump of 2.7 percent in 2023.
Even with those rising prices, Mr. Rist says consumers are undaunted in making sure bunnies, candy eggs, and baskets will be available for children this year.
“We find that there are some things that consumers expect in relation to what candy actually costs them, but these are family-oriented things. They come up with a way to find the dollars to make sure they can do things with their kids like share Easter baskets,” he said.
“Easter has always had a high participation rate. Even during the pandemic when we couldn’t do family gatherings.”
But Dr. Kotter says the Christian church, in general, has adapted to the retail aspect of the holiday.
“It’s commercial, but not as commercial as other holidays and observances like Cinco de Mayo and Halloween. At least alcohol is not a part of Easter. And Easter has mixed messages, unlike Halloween where you can put a 13-foot skeleton on your lawn and people won’t object. But a similar likeness of Jesus will not be as acceptable to your neighbors.”
However, Dr. Kotter also says that while church attendance during Easter has gone down over the years, he believes those who do attend are more committed than in the past.
“Committed Evangelicals, the core of the faithful, is increasing. Those on the outside are the ones contributing to Easter sales. What would it look like to spend money on Jesus on Easter? You can do it well and spend no money at all.”
