Halloween Sales Expected To Reach Record $8.4 Billion In 2016

U.S. consumers plan to spend a record $8.4 billion on Halloween this year.

Americans appears to be going all in on Halloween this year.

Over 171 million Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year, spending an average of $82.93, forecasting a total spend of $8.4 billion on U.S. Halloween sales, which would amount to an all-time high, according to data provided by the National Retail Federation.

Last year, U.S. consumers spent $6.9 billion on Halloween, which worked out to $74.34 per person; the previous high spend was in 2012 when U.S. shoppers spent $8 billion on the holiday.

“After a long summer, families are excited to welcome the fall season celebrating Halloween,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Retailers are preparing for the day by offering a wide variety of options in costumes, decorations and candy, while being aggressive with their promotions to capture the most out of this shopping event.”

According to the survey, which asked 6,791 U.S. consumers about their Halloween shopping plans from Sept. 6 through Sept. 13, shoppers plan to spend the most on Halloween costumes this year at $3.1 billion (purchased by 67 percent of all Halloween shoppers), but 94.3 percent of Halloween shoppers said they planned to purchase and dole out candy this year. But that will only account for $2.5 billion in Halloween sales. Seventy percent of Halloween shoppers said they also planned to purchase decorations, which will account for $2.4 billion in spending, and 35.4 percent plan to buy Halloween greeting cards ($390 million of total spending).

Dishing out candy to trick-or-treaters will be the most popular form of Halloween celebration this year, at 71 percent, followed by decorating the yard/home at 49 percent, dressing in a costume at 47 percent, carving a pumpkin at 46 percent, going to/hosting a Halloween party at 34 percent, taking children trick-or-treating at 30 percent, visiting a haunted house at 21 percent and dressing their pets up in costume at 16 percent.

The bulk of U.S. shoppers (44.4 percent) plan to start their Halloween shopping the first two weeks of October, while 29 percent plan to begin in September, 21.7 percent the last two weeks of October and 5 percent already began their Halloween shopping before September even started.

Consumers will get their inspiration for Halloween costumes this year primarily online, at 35 percent, followed by when they are inside a brick-and-mortar store at 29 percent and 19 percent said they would get the idea from their family or friends; 28 percent of those surveyed said they didn’t plan to dress up this year for Halloween.

Pinterest is the fastest-growing costume influencer on social media at 17 percent, but the social media site has seen 133 percent growth since 2012. Facebook influences about 17 percent of Halloween costume decisions, too. Pop culture is at 16 percent, and print media influences 14 percent of all costume decisions.

Discount stores lead the way when it comes to Halloween shopping, as 47 percent of consumers said they planned to do their shopping for the holiday at one. Another 36 percent said they planned to visit a specialty Halloween-themed store (which was a 33 percent increase from last year), 26 percent of shoppers will get their Halloween goodies from the grocery store, 23 percent from a department store and only 22 percent of U.S. shoppers intend to do their Halloween shopping online this year.

“Consumers are eager to celebrate Halloween, especially given that eight in 10 Americans will shop by mid-October. That is the highest we have seen in the survey history,” Prosper Insights Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow told the National Retail Federation. “Americans will enjoy taking advantage of early-bird promotions, both online and in-store, as they kick off the fall season.”