As retailers gear up for the holiday-season influx of shoppers, Halloween ought to be high on their list. More than 157 million Americans are expected to celebrate Halloween this year, spending an average of $74.34 per person, with total spending reaching $6.9 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.
“After a long summer, consumers are eager to embrace fall and all of the celebrations that come with it,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. “With a bit more confidence in their finances and still enjoying the perks of low gas prices, we expect those celebrating Halloween this year will look for several different activities to do with their family and friends.”
Beauty retailers, in particular, are primed to enjoy a piece of the pie, as consumers shop for their costuming needs. The break down for costuming is as follows:
- Consumers will spend an average of $27.33 on costumes for the whole family, and a total of $2.5 billion on store-bought, homemade, large and small costumes
- $1.2 billion will be spent on adult costumes
- $950 million will be spent on children’s costumes
- $350 million will be spent on pet costumes
- 68 million Americans are expected to dress up
- 20 million pet owners are expected to dress up their pet
For the festivities:
- 94% of Halloween shoppers will buy candy, spending a total of $2.1 billion
- 34% will buy greeting cards, spending a total of $330 million
- 45% plan to decorate their home or yard
- $20.34 is the amount the average person is planning to spend on decorations, with total spending expected to reach $1.9 billion
Furthermore, many consumers will be knocking out their shopping early.
- 34% will start their Halloween shopping before the first of October
- 41% will get started in the first half of the month
- 25% will wait for the final weeks of October
“People shouldn’t be too surprised when they see Halloween candy and decorations available in stores as early as September first,” said Prosper Insights principal analyst Pam Goodfellow. “Given that more than a third of Americans enjoy taking advantage of early-bird deals to kick off their fall celebrations, it seems there’s plenty of appetite among consumers to enjoy a perfectly ‘frightful’ Halloween.”
And, finally, consumers will find inspiration for their costume ideas as follows:
- 31%, online
- 27%, retail stores
- 13%, Pinterest vs. 7% just three years ago; with 25% of the users being 18- to 24-year-olds and 24% being 25- to 34-year-olds
[Image: Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley]