It may not seem like it to many of us. But we spend a lot on Halloween shopping. Hence the comment: Halloween spending is big business. Not everyone relies on homemade costumes.
Annual Mother’s Day spending is much higher at about $24 billion. Yet, Halloween-related spending this year will exceed $9 billion.
Shopping Trends: Halloween Spending Is Big Business
In 2007, U.S. Halloween spending was $5.1 billion. This means 2017 represents a huge jump in our formal spending on Halloween.
As Dyfed Loesche reports for Statista:
You will find more statistics at Statista
Interesting Facts About Halloween Shopping
The National Retail Federation is the leading association in retailing. Since 2003, it has conducted an annual Halloween survey “to see how Americans celebrate the fright and delight of this holiday.” In 2017, “179+ million Americans will participate in Halloween festivities. The top costume for children is reported to be an action hero or superhero. The top pick for adults is a witch. Pets will not be left behind. Ten percent of consumers are dressing their pet as a pumpkin.”
Take a look at the following information. Where do YOU fit?
Halloween is something that everyone can celebrate no matter what. It doesn’t matter what your race or religion is, everyone participates together. Now it’s not just the kids that are dressing up and going trick or treating, adults also find themselves dressing up and going out to parties. Now that social media and pop culture have such a big impact on our lives people are becoming more creative and coming up with more elaborate costume ideas. This is all leading to the increased spending in order to celebrate Halloween.
What a timely and interesting post – Thanks and Happy Halloween!! Suzanne
It is no surprise to me that Halloween spending has increased so much this year. It is a fun holiday that people of all ages can enjoy. With the use of social media and websites such as Pinterest, it is also easier for people to find creative costumes from ideas on these websites. Being in college, we all know that Halloween is an especially fun event for us students to partake in. For me and my friends, dressing up in a great costume is the best part. So even us broke college students have contributed a decent portion to the $9.1 billion made this year.
I am aware that at anytime there is a holiday in the year, sales spike up and the participation in the market exponentially increases during that time period. However, what surprised me was the amount of money spent on Halloween festivities; the spending this year is 80% higher than 2007! Furthermore, I agree with all the statistics given concerning various Halloween activities. For instance, people between the ages of 18-24 are more likely to attend or host a party, while older adults are more likely to give away candy. Also, with superhero costumes being the main inspiration is not surprising since Marvel and DC comics have come out with so many movies within the last several years.
Halloween is one of the few holidays that can be celebrated by everyone, regardless of race or religious affiliation. As a result, it is one of the most profitable holiday’s for businesses. Between buying candy, decorations for houses, and the costumes themselves, there is plenty of money in the Halloween business. The ease of online shopping has made it even easier to choose a costume, or even decide to buy one in the first place. I was very surprised to see that revenue related to Halloween had almost doubled in the last ten years. I think that’s more of a reflection of the trend in which society is headed; away from home-made costumes/decorations and towards the ease of buying goods that have already been assembled.
My family has always been very active with celebrating Halloween, but since me and my siblings have gotten older, there seems to be less of a reason to decorate extensively and put a lot of effort into a costume. For children, there is much greater an opportunity for more money to be spent considering how the holiday is a much more exciting event to that age group.
It is a pity that I don’t fit any information in the graph. After all, I’m not from a country celebrating Halloween, but it is interesting for me to see the Halloween celebration here. There is a similar festival, Qing Ming Festival, in China. But Qing Ming Festival is not as happy as Halloween. Even though people will gather in Qing Ming Festival, the atmosphere is a little sad actually. Honestly, it is good to see people treat the soul-related festival so positively.
It is no surprise that Halloween has become a consumer holiday. With costumes becoming more and more elaborate, decorations being offered in higher variety and a more people wanting to celebrate a higher inflation of spending has occurred. Business’s see these holidays as a time to push new product and make more profit. That is why you see Halloween decorations in early September and Christmas ornaments in late October.
I am full of joy that Halloween (like Thanksgiving) is a holiday that everyone celebrates/partakes to some extent. I am amazed that $9 billion is being used for this holiday. I myself like to get in on the fun by handing in candy, dressing up to parties for ‘Halloweekend’, watching Halloween movies, etc.
I am surprised to see that spending for Halloween has continued to go up. My family always did the usual Halloween activities; pumpkin picking/carving, waiting among herds of people in the party store for a costume, trick-or-treating, etc. This year and all others, I fit into many of these categories! As stated, the top costume for adults was a witch- guilty! However, I did not spend any money on the costume this year, because It was actually one I owned already! I did go trick-or-treating this year with my niece and nephew and I was surprised, and saddened that we only encountered one other group of trick-or-treaters! In my neighborhood there were hardly any! My sister was home with intentions of giving out candy but we didn’t get one trick-or-treater! Halloween has always been a fun holiday and I was under the impression that it isn’t the same anymore, perhaps not as fun for young kids anymore, however, these statistics and charts, and the $9 billion spent point to a very lively and celebrated Halloween!
Is your neighborhood getting older with fewer kids?
I personally think it is crazy how much of society spends on Halloween, even though I am definitely part of this percentage. Halloween is a huge deal for young children, but shockingly even a bigger deal for high school and college students. When I was younger, my family went all out with decorating our house and dressing up in crazy, expensive costumers, but as I’ve gotten older we stopped decorating and I tend to try and make my own costumes out of what I already have, in order to save money. I think this trend of high spending during this time will continue, probably even increase in the future. I find it amazing that this holiday is something so many people tend to participate in.
I was not surprised to hear that Halloween sales jumped this year. Younger children love dressing up and going trick or treating and every kid wants to have the best costume. As you get older you give up the trick or treating but end up spending more on costume’s and going out to halloween parties. I find it amazing that people will spend hundreds of dollars on one night of the year but i think this trend with continue.
Halloween marks the beginning of the fall festivities, so that’s why I think people go all out for it. People get to be creative with their costume ideas and house decorations which influences people to go out and purchase decorations and costumes. Personally, I find it inconvenient to go out and spend money on a costume (college budget), so it’s always fun to make the costume and put it together with things I have at home. It is also the first major holiday since the 4th of July, and people seem to be more willing/it gives them an excuse to come together and celebrate. I was surprised that people actually spend money and send out greeting cards, considering that idea is not commonly associated with the idea of halloween.
Most people who think of fall, think of leaves changing colors and Halloween. At this time of year you either really enjoy dressing up or you don’t. I am very surprised that the average planned Halloween spending per household is only $86.13. I feel like an average costume in todays society is $40-$50 dollars so how is the average such a small amount. I wonder how much a store could raise its prices before people decide to just make their own costumes.
I totally agree that “Halloween spending is big business”. I think the candy business can make a lot money during Halloween season. There are nearly 95% of celebrants would like to choose purchase candy to celebrate Halloween. Although candy are cheap to buy, the large amount of purchasing still would gain a lot of profits.
The top Halloween costumes indicate that people like to incorporate pop culture into their celebrating of the holiday. It makes sense, then, for companies to capitalize on the ability to sell other pop-culture related Halloween items, like candy with superhero wrappers or decorations that are associate with a TV show or movie. The market has potential for incorporating pop culture into more than just costumes.
Halloween, along with Thanksgiving and Christmas, are money-making machines for retail and online goods providers. They provide a jolt to the economy before the year’s end. However, the staggering sales from this year’s Halloween surprised me. Hopefully, it’s an indicator for even greater sales for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year.
I loved this post. I love Halloween, but I didn’t realize how much money is used for all the different aspects of halloween. I do spend a quite a bit amount of money on decorations, but didn’t realize buying candy, caving a pumpkin and visiting haunted houses was adding to the Halloween budget. Halloween costumes were always expense, even when growing up as a kid. Now I understand a little more why some houses don’t decorate there house and welcome kids in with candy on halloween night, some might not be able to afford it.
The celebration of Halloween is very popular in the United States. Growing up, all my friends and I would dress up in different festive costumes each year and go trick-or-treating around our town. With that being said, the statistics provided in this article are not shocking. It is a lucrative holiday due to high spending on costumes and candy that brings everyone together.
Although there was a lot of interesting information in this post, what stood out the most to me was the fact that men spend, on average, almost a hundred dollars on Halloween and the fact that they spend, on average, $20 more than women. From my Halloween experiences, and maybe this only applies to my demographic of college students, women definitely spend a lot more money, time and effort on Halloween and Halloween costumes. When I’ve visited my female friends houses and dorms around Halloween time, they’re likely decorated at least a little whether it be with pumpkins or cheesy decorations from the dollar store, while my male friends have no decorations nor any interest in spending money on them. As for costumes, my female friends (and myself included) have been planning our costumes since September, ordering multiple costumes online (because Halloween lasts the whole weekend, of course) while my male friends plan their costumes day of, wearing clothing from the depths of their closet. Although this may have no been the significance of this article, I found it very interesting that men were reported to spend more on Halloween.
I found it interesting that men statically spend more on Halloween, yet do not start purchasing things until two weeks beforehand. It also surprised me that most of the money goes to discount stores. I would expect candy and traditional Halloween store would be the main sources.