Rising chocolate prices are reshaping Easter shopping habits, but most Americans are still celebrating — just more strategically.
Simple savings tactics like stacking discounts, timing purchases, and using leftover gift cards can help cut costs without sacrificing traditions.
Beyond candy, expenses like clothing, décor, and hosting extras can quietly drive up your total — making them key areas to scale back.
Easter may be a little pricier this year, but for most Americans, it’s still very much on the calendar.
New data from RetailMeNot shows that while rising chocolate costs are forcing shoppers to rethink how they spend, they’re not giving up the holiday altogether. In fact, more than eight in 10 consumers still plan to celebrate — they’re just getting smarter about it.
From hunting for deals to rethinking what goes into baskets, shoppers are finding ways to hold onto traditions without overspending. ConsumerAffairs spoke with RetailMeNot’s Retail Insights Expert Stephanie Carls, who explained that the focus isn’t on cutting Easter out — it’s on making it work within today’s tighter budgets.
Easter savings strategies
Like any holiday, there’s ways to make the most of your budget – even as prices in nearly every category continue to increase.
Carls shared her top three savings strategies consumers can employ as they prepare for Easter weekend:
Stack savings, but do it in the right order. Start with the sale price, stack a promo code on top, then activate any cash back offers before you check out. Most people stop at the sale price and call it a day. All three stacked together is a different final number.
Know what you’re shopping for before you decide when to shop. If selection matters, shop before the holiday. If price is the priority, the deepest discounts show up after Easter Sunday, not before it. Those are two different strategies and they’re both right, just for different things.
Use what you already have. Gift cards, reward points, store credit collecting dust in an app since December. Leftover gift cards are still in circulation and ready to stack on top of already-discounted products. Easter is low-stakes enough to actually use them.
The priciest categories this Easter
If you’re preparing for Easter, here the top three categories that Carls said are likely to run you a higher bill this year:
Spring clothes. Outside of chocolate, spring apparel is the category most people aren’t thinking about but should be. Twenty-one percent of shoppers in our data plan to buy clothing or seasonal apparel for Easter. Pre-Easter is the best window for spring clothing. Department stores are discounting spring dresses, kids’ Easter outfits, and pastel basics in the weeks leading up to the holiday, and popular sizes move fast. If the outfit is happening either way, buy it now.
Chocolate specifically deserves its own conversation this year. Our data shows 26% of shoppers plan to spend less on chocolate because of rising prices, and another 37% say they’ll look for deals or cash back before buying it. That’s nearly two thirds of shoppers changing their behavior around one category.
Skip anything marketed as an Easter-themed version of something that exists year-round. The bunny on the packaging is not a selling point. You are paying for the label.
Balancing Easter shopping in your budget
Carls explained that Easter baskets aren’t the only place where the holiday gets expensive.
“RetailMeNot's data shows the average Easter spend this year is $88, and candy and chocolate top the list at 68% of shoppers planning to buy it,” she said. “That’s not the budget problem.
“The creep happens in the categories people don’t think about until they’re already in the store. Decorations and hosting supplies, floral arrangements, restaurant brunches. Those add up fast and they’re a lot easier to cut than the chocolate bunny.”
Her best advice:
Keep the traditions that matter to your family.
Set a per-basket number before you shop, not after.
Deciding the number upfront means you stop justifying each small purchase on its own and start making real tradeoffs.
“The pressure to spend big is mostly manufactured,” Carls said. “Shoppers have more room here than the seasonal marketing wants them to think. Timing and a short list usually get the job done.”