Halloween Spending to Reach New Heights

Total spending for the fall holiday is expected to top at $9.1 billion.

NORTH AMERICA–With the fall season quickly approaching, U.S. consumers are gearing up to spend more than ever on costumes, candy and pumpkins in preparation for the Halloween holiday, according to the National Retail Federation.

Shoppers are expected to spend an average of $86.23, up from last year’s $82.93. Total spending is expected to reach $9.1 billion, the highest in the survey’s history and up 8.3 percent from last year’s previous record of $8.4 billion.

The findings are part of the NRF’s annual survey conducted with Prosper Insights & Analytics.

According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $3.4 billion on customers (purchased by 69 percent of Halloween shoppers), $2.7 billion on candy (95 percent), $2.7 billion on decorations (72 percent) and $410 million on greeting cards (37 percent).

Additionally, 71 percent of consumers plan to hand out candy, 49 percent will decorate their home or yard, 48 percent will wear costumes, 46 percent will carve a pumpkin, 35 percent will throw or attend a party, 31 percent will take their children trick-or-treating, 23 percent will visit a haunted house and 16 percent will dress their pets in costumes.

Of those dressing up for the holiday, the NRF found that 3.7 million children plan to dress as their favorite action character or superhero, 2.9 million as Batman characters and another 2.9 million as their favorite princess. Meanwhile, 3.2 million adults plan to dress as their favorite Batman character. Other popular costumes among adults include witch, animal, pirate, Marvel character, vampire, zombie, DC Superhero (excluding Batman and Wonder Woman), slasher movie villains and Wonder Woman.

The survey also found that 47 percent of shoppers will visit discount stores for Halloween-themed items, 38 percent will shop at specialty stores, 25 percent will visit supermarkets, 24 percent will buy at department stores and 22 percent will shop online.

“Halloween continues to be a highly-anticipated holiday for Americans, who will spend a record amount this year with increases across all purchasing categories,” says Pam Goodfellow, principal analyst, Prosper Insights & Analytics. “Expect consumers to be on the lookout for early-bird promotions both online and in-store as they hunt for the best items to complete their costumes and embellish their homes.”