A survey by the market research institute POSpulse has determined how much the German population spent on Easter gifts in 2019. More than 60% of respondents said they paid more than 20 euros for Easter gifts. Almost 15% even above the 50 euro mark. When looking at the Easter trade in Germany and Austria, it was also noticed that the order figures increase rapidly from two weeks before Easter - by a whole 14%. This increase in the Easter season is only beaten by the Black Friday to Cyber Monday sales days, which Warehousing1 had already reported on in a article before.
Find out exactly what this means for your eCommerce shop, what you can learn from last year's sales figures and how to prepare your logistics processes for the increased demand at Easter in this blog post.
Which items sell particularly well at Easter?
For a long time now, Easter has also been gaining more importance in retail and is catching up more and more, especially compared to the strong-selling pre-Christmas period. This is hardly surprising, as Easter Sunday is the most important Christian holiday of the year. According to surveys by the German Federal Statistical Office, the largest share of customer purchases is for sweets. This is followed by colorful, boilt eggs, putting non-food items in third place on the Easter popularity scale. In the toy trade, around 5% of total annual sales are generated in the run-up to Easter, equivalent to around 150 million euros. In addition, the trend towards giving away even high-priced goods has clearly emerged in recent years. It is suspected that this will increase in the coming years.
While the majority of Easter shopping still falls to brick-and-mortar retailers, more and more people are also spending money on Easter gifts online. The online sales hits at Easter primarily include toys and decorative items, as can be seen in the chart below.
Easter 2018 - 2020: Looking back
2018 & 2019
The HDE Handelsverband Deutschland (German Retail Association) has published the most important key data of 2019 in a Study. Thus, the respondents spent around 13% more on their Easter purchases than in the previous year. In terms of eCommerce, it was even 16.9% more.
The figures already illustrate the increasing importance of Easter business and, in particular, the rising online shopping behavior of customers in terms of annual sales.
2020 – today
The news that the lockdown in Germany will be extended until the end of March - i.e. shortly before Easter - has not left the logistics industry unscathed. Last year, the Corona crisis already turned out to be a great opportunity for eCommerce. According to a study by Appinio just under 17% of Germans have been buying more since the start of the pandemic than before, increasingly also in online stores (note: this figure refers to all retail, i.e. stationary and online combined). The steady rise in sales figures indicates that online business in particular is likely to see high demand for (Easter) products from the popular categories. The most important question here is: Is your company also prepared for this logistical challenge?
Campaign logistics at Easter 2021
Here is your list of all the points to consider for successful campaign logistics at Easter:
✔ Inventory and availability of goods: Always keep inventory levels of potential bestsellers high to avoid sell-outs. With constant product availability, you will make your customers happy not only in the short term, but also in the long term.
✔ Marketing: Have you planned special Easter campaigns? Or will your Easter deliveries be sent in special boxes with special imprints? Make sure your fulfillment service provider is prepared and briefed to reliably implement all your requirements.
✔ Fast and reliable delivery: Did you communicate a date by which orders must be received to be delivered on time by Easter? Ask your logistics provider whether this time frame is realistic in view of the current pandemic situation, or whether delivery delays are to be expected. This way, you can still adjust any delivery promises in time.
Conclusion
Judging by the historical data on Easter and the developments in the eCommerce sector, it is highly likely that Easter will once again ensure record sales this year. Therefore, it is inevitable that you need to provide your customers with an excellent shopping experience, just like at any other time of the year. With attention to detail in fulfillment - through flyers, creative stickers and cardboard imprints - you can effectively increase customer loyalty and attract new existing customers.
Is your current logistics partner not flexible enough to accommodate your special requests? Or are you simply not sure if your current logistics setup can keep up with the increased demand at Easter? Warehousing1 helps right here: With around 750 partner locations across Germany and Europe, we can find the perfect fulfillment service provider for you and your business. Send us an inquiry - one of our account managers will get back to you within 24 hours.
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