No scary news for retailers this Halloween season. Sales are back to pre-pandemic levels, with 69% of consumers planning to celebrate the holiday this year, up from 65% in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation's (NRF) annual survey. With the increase in participation, total Halloween spending should reach $10.6 billion, exceeding last year's $10.1 billion.
Over 8,000 consumers participated in the survey, saying they will spend about $100 for Halloween items this year. The top ways consumers plan to celebrate include handing out candy (67%), decorating their home or yard (51%), dressing up in costume (47%), carving a pumpkin (44%), and throwing or attending a Halloween party (28%). Like last year, one in five plans to dress their pet up in a costume.
The leading source of Halloween costume inspiration comes from online searches (36%), while one-quarter of consumers questioned say they will check displays in retail stores, and 19% will get ideas from friends and family. Younger consumers, particularly those under 25, will look to social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok for costume inspiration this year.
Spending on kids' and adult costumes in 2022 is expected to total $2.9 billion, the highest amount since 2017. Spending for pet costumes is also set to exceed last year's record high, reaching $710 million.
Children's Favorite Costumes
More than 2.2 million children plan to dress as Spiderman, more than 1.9 million as their favorite princess, more than 1.6 million as a witch, and more than 1.3 million will dress as a ghost. Batman and other superheroes are tied for fifth most popular costume, with 1.2 million children each planning to dress in character.
Adult Costume Rankings
Of those adults planning to dress up for Halloween more than 5.3 million adults plan to dress like a witch, more than 1.7 million as vampires, 1.5 million as ghosts, and more than 1.4 million as pirates. Tied for fifth place, more than 1.2 million adults are planning a cat costume, and another 1.2 million say they will dress up as Batman.
Preferred Pet Costumes
The most popular costumes for pets include a pumpkin (9%), a hot dog (5%), a bat (4%), a bumblebee (3%), and a witch (3%).
About NRF
The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association The NRF advocates for the people, brands, policies and ideas that help retail thrive. Retail is the nation's largest private-sector employer, contributing $3.9 trillion to the annual US GDP and supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 52 million working Americans. For more information, visit https://nrf.com/.
About Quikstone Capital Solutions
Since 2005, Quikstone has helped thousands of retailers grow and prosper with easy, fast, and flexible working capital for all their business needs including purchasing holiday inventory, creating special advertising and promotions, hiring additional staff and updating your website.
A cash advance from Quikstone is not a loan; it's a sales transaction – the purchase of a small portion of future credit card sales. If you process credit cards, you could qualify for as much as $250,000. There's a simple one-page application, and no collateral is needed. We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and 80% of our merchants are repeat customers.
Contact us today and get started with a no-cost or obligation consultation.
