Online shoppers to outspend offline shoppers this Easter

The average online shopper intends to spend $225 on Easter-related items this year, $96 more than offline shoppers, found the NRF's study.

However, before online retailers break open the champers, just 14.8% of consumers said they would make online purchases this coming Easter.

Discount stores are the most popular destination (62.6%), highlighting continued financial concerns, followed by department stores (36.6%) and specialty stores selling clothes, flowers, jewelry and electronic merchandise (30.5%).

The average consumer is expected to spend $131 on items from confectionery to electronics, an increase from last year's $119 but still lower than the pre-recession spending average of $135.

"Easter consumers are eager to celebrate, but they'll still keep an eye on prices and look for sales on food or new outfits," said Kathy Grannis, director of media relations at the NRF.

"We expect spending to increase from last year, slowly inching back to pre-recession levels, but it won't increase past pre-recessionary numbers. In terms of consumers looking for budgets and sales, we're not out of the woods yet."

For those that do choose to order from their armchairs they will spend $46 on gifts, $61 on food, $31 on flowers, $26 on decorations and $17 on greeting cards, the totals of which are all higher than the amounts of cited by offline shoppers.

Tags: consumer spending, Easter, online shopping