Halloween Spending in Full Swing

Early Halloween shopping is on the rise, with 47% of survey participants beginning their shopping before October, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. That figure is up from 37% five years ago and compares with just 32% a decade ago.

Despite this year’s earlier start, total Halloween spending is expected to reach $11.6 billion, down from last year’s record-setting $12.2 billion.

Early demand for ghouls, ghosts and other Halloween items continues to grow, and the top reasons shared by early shoppers include looking forward to the fall season (48%), avoiding the stress of last-minute shopping (38%) or because Halloween is one of their favorite holidays (37%).

Some other key findings:

• Almost three-quarters (72%) of consumers plan to celebrate Halloween this year, consistent with last year’s record of 73%. Top holiday activities include handing out candy (67%), decorating their home or yard (52%), dressing up in costume (49%), carving a pumpkin (43%) and throwing or attending a party (29%).
• Those taking part in the spooky season plan to spend an average of $103.63, about $4.62 less than last year’s record of $108.24.
• Discount stores (37%) remain the top destination to buy Halloween items, followed by specialty Halloween/costume stores (33%) and online (33%).

The survey asked 7945 consumers about their Halloween shopping plans. It was conducted Sept. 3-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

Click here for more from the survey.