Infographic: Easter sales and footfall to be dampened by bad weather

Retail spend for Easter will be £4bn this year, broken down to £1.9bn on seasonal food and drink, £713m on gifting and £1.4bn on all other non-seasonal spending, according to Verdict.

However, the forecasted wet weather on Saturday could have a negative impact on sales.

Verdict consultant Greg Bromley told Retail Week: “Easter is typically highly dependent on the weather – with heavy rain forecast for much of the country this may dampen enthusiasm and affect spend.

“Poor weather might benefit the grocers more than others, with consumers looking to stay in and have a meal, and perhaps do some online shopping rather than going out and doing an activity or hitting the high street.”

The wet weather is also likely to impact footfall resulting in a 5% decline in shopper traffic on Saturday, according to predictions by Springboard.

High streets are expecting an uplift of 3% on Easter Monday, however, resulting in an overall decline in footfall of 1.1% year on year for the high street.

Springboard marketing and insights director Diane Wehrle explained that Easter Monday tends to be the best day of the long weekend for high street retailers because “people use the start of weekend to do their DIY and gardening. By the Monday they’re more likely to put down their tools and head out to the high street.”

Out-of-town retail parks are expected to see the best performance over the Easter weekend, with Springboard forecasting a footfall growth of 4.5% compared with Easter last year, fuelled by the increase in desire for shoppers to upgrade their homes, a strong year of growth and the benefit of free parking.

Overall retailers are expected to see a modest growth in footfall of 1.3% over the weekend compared with Easter last year.

Last year, 45.8% of shoppers bought an Easter egg, according to Verdict, and this number is set to increase this year.

“The major driver behind this growth will come from the increasing competition on price and ranges from the major grocers, but also the impact of the discounters,” said Bromley.

“To this end, the likes of Aldi and Lidl now offer significant seasonal ranges, including Easter eggs, as do the discount general merchandisers such as Wilko and B&M.

“This year has also seen a strong focus on more premium products, both from the grocers, and high-street confectionery players such as Thorntons and Hotel Chocolat.”