Halloween—13 Hair-Raising Marketing Stats for this Holiday to Know

 

 

Photo by John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

Halloween has become a prime retail holiday where billions of dollars will be spent on costumes, decorations and candy. It’s considered a “gateway” holiday to kick-off the busy holiday retail season. And retailers believe that sales for this holiday are a good indicator of what’s in store for the upcoming holidays. “Halloween has become the canary in the coalmine that helps retailers get a final holiday forecast. It’s not a big gift-giving holiday, but it is a big party time, and also indicates the consumer’s propensity to spend,” says Paula Rosenblum, co-founder and Managing Partner at RSR Research.

We’ve uncovered 13 stats that prove Halloween will be booming:

1. Halloween-related spending is expected to reach $11.3 billion. [ICSC]


2. 75% of US households plan to spend money on Halloween-related items this year—from spider webs and pumpkins to decorate the front yard to costumes and Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters. [eMarketer]


3. 34.2% of adults will use online search for inspiration for Halloween costumes. [statista]


4. 90% of households will select brick-and-mortar retail stores as their preferred venue for Halloween shopping and online. [ICSC]


5. $1.4 billion will be spent on adult costumes and 1.1 billion will be spent on children’s costumes. [NRF]


6. 23 million people will dress up their pets in costumes. [NRF]


7. 67% of adults plan to celebrate Halloween or participate in Halloween activities. [NRF]


8. 81% adults surveyed feel that the state of the U.S. economy won’t   impact their Halloween plans. [NRF]


9. 8 out of 10 households plan to spend the same or more on Halloween compared to last year, with one out of five households planning to increase spending. [ICSC]


10. Consumers spend $21.05 per person on average on candy, with
    $2.2 billion spent on candy overall. [NRF]


11. 43.3% will begin shopping for Halloween the first two weeks of October. [NRF]


12. 34.2% of Americans shopping online for Halloween. [NRF]


13. Last year, nearly half (49 percent) of marketers surveyed suggested they would launch holiday campaigns before Halloween.  [Experian]

With such a favorable marketing forecast, you’ll want to get your marketing in gear to make the most of this pre-holiday period. Follow these simple tips to get started:

• Offer consumers enticing deals and coupons that represent good value to them.


• Be where your customers are—Halloween is as social a holiday as they get, be sure to engage with them on the platforms where they are most. Generate buzz around your store or product, have your fans post photos, have a contest or giveaway.


• Make sure your website is optimized for mobile shopping. Be sure to offer on the spot promotions or coupons.


• Start now to prepare your holiday ad campaigns, to launch right after Halloween. With such a short holiday season (only 26 days from Black Friday to Christmas Eve) the extra time could be crucial.

Make your holiday selling season a treat—start early and apply a few of these tricky tips to super-charge your seasonal sales!

If you’d like to get ahead of the competition, and start on your holiday campaign early, why not download our Step-by-Step Guide to Holiday Campaign Planning, to ensure your online advertising campaigns are in tip-top shape and super-charge your holiday season!

We want to know what you are doing to engage Halloween shoppers this year. Post them in the comments below or tweet us at @withNTENT.