WASHINGTON -- Halloween spending is expected to hit $8.4 billion this year, the highest in the history of the National Retail Federation’s annual survey.
A fair share of that total will be spent on candy, and convenience-store retailers could benefit from a surge in sales that comes the week before the holiday, said Larry Levin, executive vice president, consumer and shopper marketing for IRI.
This year, Oct. 31 falls on a Monday, and parties will likely occur during the weekend, with trick-or-treating on the traditional date.
The Retail Federation's survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, found that U.S. consumers will spend an average of $82.93 this Halloween season, up from $74.34 in 2015. Most of that money will go toward costumes and candy. Candy sales are projected at $2.5 billion, with 94.3% of survey respondents saying they will be buying candy.
Even though 80% of survey respondents said they plan to buy by mid-October, retailers should pay attention to the week before Halloween for candy sales, Levin said. He said research consistently shows that sales surge a few days just before a holiday. In the case of Halloween, he said, that's often because candy purchased earlier may have been consumed, and households need to replenish for the actual holiday.
Convenience stores can be the beneficiaries of these last-minute purchases because they offer quick service, usually 24 hours a day, he said.
According to the NRF survey, consumers plan to spend $3.1 billion on costumes (purchased by 67% of Halloween shoppers), $2.5 billion on candy (94.3%), $2.4 billion on decorations (70%) and $390 million on greeting cards (35.4%).
“After a long summer, families are excited to welcome the fall season celebrating Halloween,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Retailers are preparing for the day by offering a wide variety of options in costumes, decorations and candy, while being aggressive with their promotions to capture the most out of this shopping event.”
When it comes to preparation, 71% of consumers plan to hand out candy. In other holiday activities, nearly half plan to decorate their home or yard (49%), dress in costume (47%), carve a pumpkin (46%), throw or attend a party (34%), take their children trick-or-treating (30%), visit a haunted house (21%) or dress their pet(s) in costume (16%). Eight in 10 said they will shop by mid-October.
Of the survey respondents, about a quarter said they will shop at grocery stores, drug stores and convenience stores. Another 47% will visit discount stores to buy their Halloween-related items this year and 36% will visit a specialty Halloween/costume store, up from 33% last year. In addition, 23% will visit department stores and 22% will shop online.
The survey asked 6,791 consumers about Halloween shopping plans. It was conducted Sept. 6-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
Prosper Insights & Analytics prepares consumer-centric insights from multiple sources, gathering consumer views on such areas as retail, lifestyle, media, economy and personal finance. NRF is the retail trade association representing most retail categories, including discount and department stores, grocery stores, specialty stores and home goods.
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