Retailers Expect Record Year for Halloween Sales

WASHINGTON — Total Halloween spending could reach a record $12.2 billion this year, significantly outpacing last year’s record $10.6 billion in sales, according to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation.

The annual market appraisal, which was performed on the federation’s behalf by Prosper Insights & Analytics, also found that a record number of people — 73% — plan to participate in some kind of Halloween-related activities this year, up from 69% a year ago.

“More Americans than ever will be reaching into their wallets and spending a record amount of money to celebrate Halloween this year,” said Matthew Shay, the federation’s president and CEO, in a written statement accompanying the survey results. 

“Consumers will be shopping early for festive décor and other related items and retailers are prepared with the inventory to help customers and their families take part in this popular and fun tradition,” he said.

Like previous years, the top ways consumers are planning to celebrate are handing out candy (68%), decorating their home or yard (53%) or dressing in costume (50%). 

However, in a return to pre-pandemic norms, more consumers also plan to throw or attend a party (32%) or take their children trick-or-treating (28%).

Per-person spending is also up as consumers plan to spend a record $108.24 each, up from the previous record of $102.74 in 2021. 

The greatest increase in spending came from costumes.

Sixty-nine percent of those celebrating Halloween plan to buy costumes, up from 67% last year and the highest in the survey’s history. Total spending on costumes is expected to reach a record $4.1 billion, up from $3.6 billion in 2022. 

Total spending on decorations, which grew in popularity during the pandemic, is expected to reach $3.9 billion. Of those celebrating Halloween, more than three-quarters (77%) plan to purchase decorations, which is on par with last year, but up from 72% in 2019.

Candy spending is expected to reach $3.6 billion, up from $3.1 billion last year. Spending on Halloween greeting cards is projected to be $500 million, down slightly from $600 million in 2022 but above pre-pandemic levels. 

Similar to other major holidays and spending events like back-to-school and the winter holidays, consumers are looking to get an early start on their Halloween shopping. Nearly half (45%) of those celebrating the holiday plan to start shopping before October. This is on par with last year, but up from 33% a decade ago. 

Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper Insights & Analytics, said younger consumers have been leading the charge on early Halloween shopping, with more than half of those surveyed between the ages of 25-44 planning to shop during September, with many starting even earlier.

“Social media continues to grow as a source of costume inspiration for younger consumers, as more people under 25 are turning to TikTok, Pinterest and Instagram for ideas,” Rist said.

The leading sources of inspiration continue to be online searches (37%), within a retail store or costume shop (28%), and friends and family (20%).

Discount stores (40%) remain the leading destination to buy Halloween items, followed by specialty Halloween/costume stores (39%) and online (32%). 

While specialty Halloween and costume shops have always been a top destination for Halloween items, more consumers plan to shop at these stores this year than in the past. 

Spending on adult costumes is expected to increase 18% over last year to $2 billion and spending on children’s costumes is expected to increase by 20% over 2022 to $1.4 billion. In line with last year, spending on pet costumes is projected to reach $700 million.

So what’s popular on the costume front?

Based on the survey’s findings, the retailers expect Spiderman to be the top costume among kids this year, followed by princess, ghost, some other superhero or a witch.

As for adults, the survey found that most respondents planned to dress like a witch, a clear winner in the costume category, followed by vampire, Barbie — the one costume inspired by popular entertainment this year — Batman and a cat.

When it comes to pets, the most popular costumes, in order, were: A pumpkin (11%), a hot dog (7%), a bat (4%), a bumblebee (3%) and a spider (3%).

The 2023 Halloween survey asked 8,084 consumers about their shopping plans. It was conducted Sept. 1-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue