Easter weekend is a crucial time for retailers to bump up their sales. The holiday is one of the largest events of the year for food, second only to Christmas. The four-day holiday gives consumers extra time to shop, with several categories benefiting from the festivity.
This year Easter is on April from Friday 19th to Monday 22nd and among the categories that experience an increase in their sales are grocery, gifting and furniture. Also, summer clothing and garden equipment sell well depending on weather conditions.
To help you plan for a successful Easter, at CPM we bring you the main highlights of the festive period for retail during 2018:
Last year, poor weather conditions affected retail sales with storms Emma and the Beast from the East impacting footfall. According to Kantar Worldpanel, spending was up by €88m, or 3.8%, from the same period a year earlier as shoppers restocked after the storm and spent a lot more on Easter eggs than in 2017.
Sales of Easter eggs and seasonal chocolate confectionery grew by 75.2% compared to 2017. Despite of a 2.4% price rise, customers didn’t deter from their traditional chocolate treats. In fact, by 25 March (1 week prior to Easter 2018) just over half of all households had purchased Easter treats, spending a total of €20.6m on chocolate.
During the 12 weeks ending 25 March 2018, Tesco was the top retailer, followed by Dunnes and SuperValu. Tesco experienced its strongest sales growth in over six years – up 7.1%, holding 21.9% of the market, while it was neck-and-neck between Dunnes Stores and SuperValu, both of which sit at 22.1%. On another hand, the high street and online offered great discounts as retailers slash prices by up to 70 per cent.
Also last year, pubs in Ireland were allowed to sell alcohol on Good Friday for the first time in 91 years, as the ban on pubs, restaurants and supermarkets to sell alcohol on the Friday before Easter Monday was lifted. Pubs were allowed to open from 10.30 Friday morning until 00.30 on Saturday morning.
The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, which represents more than 4,000 Irish pubs, estimated that opening on Good Friday would generate more than €40m in sales for pubs throughout the country as well as generating over €7m in tax and excise duty contributions.
At CPM our mission is to grow our clients’ business using insight to create influence and drive sales. We have over 30 years’ experience providing Field Sales Solutions in the Irish Retail Market and use the power of this information and experience to determine the best outcome for in-store activities particularly during seasonal peak selling periods.
Contact CPM today, to see how you could drive sales for your brand, during seasonal peak selling periods. For further information call 01 7080300 or email info@cpmire.com
References:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/30/pubs-ireland-open-good-friday/
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/volume-of-retail-sales-down-2-8-in-march-compared-to-last-year-1.3476328
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/tesco-surge-on-243bn-easter-spend-836515.html
https://www.thesun.ie/money/2376569/forget-black-friday-its-all-about-good-friday-as-retailers-slash-prices-by-up-to-70-per-cent/
https://www.shelflife.ie/latest-kantar-worldpanel-share-figures-published/
https://www.checkout.ie/tesco-shows-strongest-sales-growth-six-years-kantar-worldpanel/58140?mc_cid=4f6d21f674&mc_eid=3bb005c2c1
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