Who were the SEO winners and losers this Easter?

Where did you buy your Easter eggs this year? Online, from your local grocery shop, a specialist shop..? Here at Organic, we noticed some interesting eCommerce Easter trends that may be useful for retailers to keep in mind next year. In case you want to diarise the holiday, Easter Sunday falls on April 9th in 2023.

Let‘s start with who got eCommerce ‘right’ this Easter. Evaluation by Sistrix revealed Amazon took the top spot for purchase intent keywords. Coming in second was Cadbury Gifts Direct, with Etsy at number three.

But their analysis isn’t just about buying (the ‘do’ category). It also covers informational  (‘know’) queries such as ‘chocolate cakes for easter’ and ‘why do we eat chocolate at easter’. Here, the top three looked like this:

1. Wikipedia
2. Amazon
3. Britannica

Cadbury Gifts Direct also ranked highly (coming it at number eight). Why? Alongside CTAs like ‘shop now’ and ‘grab easter eggs’ buttons, their Easter landing page included colourful visuals, a competition, and links to informative blog posts.

And what about supermarkets? Contrary to what you may think, most big-name stores aren’t anywhere near the top of the ‘do’ search rankings. In fact, the majority lurk in the bottom third of Sistrix’s leading domains. Tesco is the exception, coming in at number six.

Shelves were filled with rows of choccies, with prices ranging from £1- £10, but over on the Internet, Easter egg purchasing was somewhat higher-end. For example, Sistrix’s top 25 websites winning for visibility intent keywords include Etsy, notonthehighstreet, John Lewis and two hamper sites.

The presence of websites like these indicates Easter has gone beyond eggs, with gifts focusing on the celebration in general. For instance:

• Etsy featured the likes of bunny wish bracelets, personalised Easter bags and Easter activity craft boxes.
• notonthehighstreet sold all manner of kits, from hot cross bun wreath baking to personalised Creme Egg cocktails, plus items like bunny-themed children’s outfits.
• John Lewis stocked everything from Easter decorations, tableware and cards to bunny socks, mugs and books.
• Funky Hampers had products like ‘The Super Deluxe Chocolate Bouquet’ and a mini chocolate cheeseboard on sale.

And although hampers.com was lower on Sistrix’s leading domains list, it still placed in the top 25. The company put together luxury Easter gift baskets filled with indulgent goodies like Champagne and meringue kisses. Although chocolate featured in many (truffles, bars and miniature eggs), their offerings didn’t include the traditional idea of an Easter egg.

Despite the above-average high price point (starting at £26 up to a whopping £189), Google saw enough reason to include hampers.com in its search results for Easter chocolate terms, even without the classic egg element.

Sites like these appear in the top 25 alongside expensive chocolatiers like Thorntons, Hotel Chocolat, Chocolate Trading Co, Green & Black’s, and Lindt – online retailers that sell a broad Easter range, from personalised, luxury and kids’ eggs to deluxe hampers and giant one-kilogram bunnies.

What do these trends suggest? That people have different buying habits: in-store for basic (and cheaper) eggs, where several may be purchased at one time, versus shopping online for something special at a higher price point. Additionally, in 2023, online Easter keyword targeting should consider focusing more heavily on high-end products. Mull that over while you work your way through your Easter goodies – if you’ve got any left that is…

As seen in ecommerce age.