Today marks October 1st, the start of a new month. For many around the country, it also begins a fascination with ghouls, zombies, ghosts and other scary creatures as we ready ourselves for the culmination of the month in Halloween. This provides retailers with a great opportunity to market seasonal items to the masses to capitalize on the first of the autumn holidays.
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Halloween Consumer Spending Survey, nearly 8 in 10 American households plan on making Halloween-related purchases this holiday season, up from 74% in 2014. The most popular purchases for these consumers were candy, food and beverages (with 76% of households), followed by household decorations at 44%. Strangely, only 39% planned to purchase costumes for the holiday.
Those percentages, however, don’t mean much without an overall view of the Halloween landscape in the U.S. According to the National Retail Federation, 157 million Americans will celebrate the holiday this year, according to the company’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey conducted with Prosper Insights & Analytics. The average consumer will spend nearly $74.34 to celebrate, a slight drop from last year’s rate of $77.52.
For those looking to provide their trick-or-treaters with a gourmet option, Nestle agreed to deals that would expand sales of it Cailler premium chocolate outside of Switzerland. Although other brands by the company are more typical (Kit Kats and Butterfingers, anyone?) the company believes that the new gourmet confectionery will help boost sales in the long term. If you want to be the hit of your neighborhood, I’d suggest handing some of these chocolates out.
Retailers are putting themselves at a serious disadvantage if they don’t market specifically for this growing holiday. Is your team ready to capitalize on this opportunity?