High consumer confidence translates to ample Halloween spending.
This Halloween season, total Halloween spending is expected to reach $9 billion, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the second highest in the survey’s 14-year history.
The figure is relatively the same as last year’s previous record of $9.1 billion.
Celebrants are planning to spend an average of $86.79, up from last year’s $86.13, with more than 175 million Americans planning to partake in Halloween festivities this year.
“The economy is good and consumer confidence is high, so families are ready to spend on Halloween this year,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Retailers are stocking up to supply children, pets and adults with their favorite decorations, candy and costumes for the season.”
According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $3.2 billion on costumes (purchased by 68% of Halloween shoppers), $2.7 billion on decorations (74%), $2.6 billion on candy (95%) and $400 million on greeting cards (35%).
Among Halloween celebrants, 70% plan to hand out candy, 50% will decorate their home or yard, 48% will wear costumes, 45% will carve a pumpkin, 32% will throw or attend a party, 30% will take their children trick-or-treating, 21% will visit a haunted house and 18% will dress pets in costumes.
Pet costumes continue to gain popularity, with nearly 20% of celebrants planning to dress their pets in costumes this year up from last year’s 16%.
“One of the biggest trends this year is the growth of spending on pet costumes,” Prosper Insights Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “Out of the 31.3 million Americans planning to dress their pets in costumes, Millennials (25-34) are most likely to dress up their pets, the highest we have seen in the history of our surveys.”
When looking for inspiration for the perfect costume, 35% of consumers will look online, 29% will look in stores, 19% will ask friends and family, 19% will look to Pinterest and 16% will look to Facebook; 16% will be influenced by pop culture and 15% by YouTube.
For buying costumes and other Halloween supplies, 45% of shoppers will visit discount stores and 35% will go to a specialty Halloween store or costume store. In addition, 25% will visit department stores, 24% will buy online and 24% in grocery/supermarket stores.