Amidst inflationary pressures and uncertainty, 47% of Canadians have been hunting for deals as much as they have been Easter eggs this year.

That’s according to Numerator Canada’s 2022 Easter survey of 706 respondents, fielded between March 29 and March 31, which also reveals that 76% of consumers expect inflation to affect how they shop this holiday season, and 37% reporting they will purchase fewer items this Easter.

And brands should take note that 34% of consumers will be researching prices prior to their shop, while 33% will switch to lower priced items if necessary.

Despite these pressures, 78% of respondents plan to celebrate this upcoming Easter, and at the time of fielding, 69% of intended celebrators had already started planning their festivities.

Canadian celebrators plan to shop a variety of categories, with food topping the list, followed closely by candy – staples of other holidays like gifts, alcohol and decorations were farther down the list, planned by a third or less of consumers. The top brand for candy buyers is Cadbury, whose parent Mondelez has said it wants a bigger share of the holidays broadly, launching candy cane Christmas Mini Eggs to add to its more popular Cadbury Creme Eggs SKUs. Hershey’s, Reese’s, M&Ms, and Kinder Joy round out the list.

According to Numerator data, the vast majority of consumers (88%) expect to do their Easter shopping in-person, and 25% plan to make at least some of their purchases online. Grocery and mass retailers are by far the most popular locations among Easter shoppers. The data reveals that 44% of consumers will do their shopping more than a week in advance, while 32% will do so this week.

When it comes to the effect on consumers’ wallets, 44% of consumers will spend between $26 and $75 dollars, followed by 30% who expect to spend a more generous $76 to $150 dollars.

Gathering with family and friends – 63% – and cooking occasions – 39% – are the two primary drivers for Easter celebrations. While 57% of consumers expect the pandemic to impact their Easter plans, only 23% of respondents believe that impact will be moderate or significant.