It’s Halloween! Stuffing candy in your face and pretending to work today? No problem, we’ve got your back—here are some Halloween-themed marketing facts for ya know, research.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend $6.9 billion in total on Halloween this year—a slight decrease from last year’s spending, which was around $7.5 billion. The NRF predicts the average person will spend $74.34, compared with $77.52 last year.
Want to know what millennials are up to? Eighty-one percent of consumers aged 18 to 34 planned to celebrate Halloween.
Candy!
Nine in 10 Halloween shoppers will buy candy, NRF estimates, spending a total of $2.1 billion, with an additional 33.5 percent spending $330 million on greeting cards. Talkwalker reports that social media has exploded with conversations about Almond Joy, increasing by 230 percent, while Kit Kat increased 114 percent. Toblerone (349 mentions) 3 Musketeers (339 mentions) and Starburst (339 mentions) were all emerging themes over the past week.
Decorations
A 44.8 percent of NRF survey participants planned to decorate their home or yard this year. The average person planning to buy decorations will spend $20.34 with total spending expected to reach $1.9 billion. Nearly half of millennials surveyed for NRF said that they were either throwing or attending a Halloween party this year, and one third were visiting a haunted house.
Costumes
If you’re wearing a costume today, you’re not alone. The National Retail Federation estimates that 68 million Americans will dress up for Halloween, with another 20 million pet owners pulling their furry friends into the celebration. Forty-nine percent of millennials search for costume ideas online, 34 percent in a retail store or Halloween shop and 24 percent are inspired by current events.
For example, the most talked-about costumes on social media according to data intelligence company, Talkwalker are robbery victim Kim Kardashian (11,488 mentions), Donald Trump (9,006 mentions in the past 30 days, Hillary Clinton (5,297), red-sweater wearing presidential debate superstar Ken Bone (6,973) and Batman Supervillian Harley Quinn (5,644).
Adult costume spending is estimated to reach $1.2 billion this year, $950 million on costumes for the kiddies and $350 million on costumes for their pets.
With that said, we’re now 24 days away from Thanksgiving.
