Outpacing Easter, the week of Christmas was the #1 sales week for chocolate by far, showing a 135% increase in US sales. The social aspect of the holiday is a huge driver, as consumers buy packaged chocolates to give as gifts, fill stockings, and serve with other sweets during holiday parties and gatherings. Halloween was the next top-selling week for chocolate, with sales rising 86%. Similar to Christmas, sales increase more during the week of Halloween than the week preceding Halloween, likely due to last-minute candy shopping.

Of course, there can be significant variation or nuance within a category. According to NIQ Connect Total Store data, Easter is the #1 holiday for milk chocolate sales, followed by Valentine’s Day and Halloween.

Beyond chocolate, Easter weekend is a tremendous food- and beverage-consuming occasion that touches nearly every category in the store — from produce to dry grocery, alcoholic beverages to soft drinks, and beyond. It’s also a huge time for spice sales, selling 18% more units than Memorial Day and 6% more than Labor Day. And almost 6% of the entire year’s beverage alcohol volume happens leading into the holiday weekend. Even cosmetics and other health and beauty aid categories are affected by the impending holiday, because who doesn’t want to look their best on Easter Sunday?

While traditional foods like ham, potatoes, fresh baked breads, and traditional deserts rank high, there is a growing number of people that have an Easter “tradition” that isn’t rooted in the religious aspect of the holiday. Easter for them is the gathering of friends and family under a self-defined tradition. Fully 25% of the US population says they have no religious affiliation according to a 2019 article in the Washington Post. This means that frozen lasagna and Thai food can be just as much a part of an Easter tradition as lamb and grandma’s green bean casserole.

Sports events are also are powerful and lucrative seasonal opportunities for companies to market their products.

Retailers and brands run large campaigns for sporting events like the Super Bowl, World Cup, Rugby World Cup, Olympics and more, creating updated product packaging, providing deals on specific categories of product, and even releasing special varieties of existing ranges. These events-based dates on the retail calendar play a vital role in achieving growth for both brands and retailers.

Events offer powerful opportunities to tell a brand story and promote products that link to relevant events online. Events are essential to encourage the extra purchases that drive growth, especially when considering the cost-of-living crisis the world is facing, as shoppers are more careful with the money they do wish to spend.

Even products in seemingly unrelated categories can benefit from seasonal events. For example, during social holidays like the Superbowl, families cook and entertain more. They’ll also have to clean more, so cleaning products could see a sales bump from the holiday as well. Done right, updated marketing content can boost the profile of these products with consumers.

There are also opportunities for complementary categories. A healthy snack manufacturer could promote its products near the Superbowl with health and wellness-focused messaging, such as encouraging shoppers not to give up on their New Year’s weight resolutions.

However, between retailers’ private label Easter eggs, branded peanut butter chocolate eggs, staples like chocolate bunnies, and newcomer favorites like white chocolate Easter treats and more, shoppers have almost too many choices for which treats to purchase.

Traditional product pages do not allow for interactive product content or additional marketing images to be easily implemented, and it will be harder for brands using traditional product pages to show seasonal product content.

However, brands who use enhanced content can see significantly higher shopper engagement. Product photos are critical for building confidence and giving the shopper a strong grasp of what it is they are buying; in fact, they are one of the most powerful components of your product page. UK supermarket chain Sainsbury reported a 47% increase in interaction on product pages when showing 5 additional images and videos.

But enhanced content can also be an opportunity to implement recipes, videos, or sponsored content, linked to the event directly on retailers’ product pages. A good example of seasonal product content might be a chocolate bar brand showing a recipe for chocolate Easter cupcakes utilizing their products. This would increase shoppers’ engagement — and increase the number of the brand’s chocolate products that are added to baskets.

Updating the enhanced content to match the current season is a great way to keep shoppers engaged with product pages and implement seasonal product content easily. The key is regularly adapting and updating your product pages to keep shoppers engaged and excited.