NRF: Nearly half of Halloween shoppers to start purchasing items before October 

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. The figure is up from 37% five years ago and compares with just 32% in 2014. Total Halloween spending is expected to reach $11.6 billion after last year’s record-setting $12.2 billion.

“Halloween marks the official transition to the fall season for many Americans, and consumers are eager to get a jump start on purchasing new seasonal décor and other autumnal items,” said Katherine Cullen, vice president of Industry and Consumer Insights. “Retailers are prepared to meet this early demand by offering shoppers all the holiday essentials to make this year’s celebrations memorable.”

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%).

“Interest in early Halloween shopping continues to be dominated by the 25-34 age group, with 56% of shoppers in this group kicking off their shopping before October,” said Paul Rist, Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy. “Their love of the holiday is a key factor in this trend, with nearly half of this segment sharing that they plan to shop early because Halloween is their favorite holiday.”

Seventy-two percent 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.

Across spending categories, candy remains the most popular with total spending expected to reach $3.5 billion. Total spending on decorations is expected to hit $3.8 billion, followed by costumes ($3.8 billion) and greeting cards ($0.5 billion).

Discount stores (37%) remain the top destination to buy Halloween items, followed by specialty Halloween/costume stores (33%) and online (33%).

Consistent with last year, total spending on adult costumes is expected to reach $1.8 billion, while spending on children’s costumes is anticipated to hit $1.3 billion. As with previous years, interest in pet costumes remains steady and is projected to reach $0.7 billion.

The leading sources of inspiration continue to be online searches (38%), within a retail store or costume shop (28%), and friends and family (20%).

Costumes Ranked: Children

This Halloween, 2.6 million children plan on dressing up as Spider-Man, 1.8 million as a ghost, 1.7 million as a princess, 1.6 million as a witch, and 1.5 million as their favorite superhero.

Costumes Ranked: Adults

Seventy-six percent of adults already know their costume, which remains in line with 75% last year. Among adults, 5.8 million plan on dressing up as a witch, 3 million as a vampire, 1.6 million as a cat, 1.5 million as Batman and 1.4 million as a pirate.

Costumes Ranked: Pets

Popular costumes for pets include a pumpkin (10%), a hot dog (6%), a bat (4%), a ghost (3%) and a bumblebee (3%).

The survey asked 7,945 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.

As the leading authority and voice for the retail industry, NRF provides data on consumer behavior and spending for key periods such as holidays throughout the year.