halloween trends
Learn more about how consumers are celebrating Halloween.
Halloween is just around the corner, but holiday festivities will be haunting you all season long beyond October 31st, and shoppers have already started preparing their tricks and treats.
According to data from NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics, 72% of consumers plan to celebrate Halloween this year. They plan to spend an average of $103.63 per person, with total spending expected to reach $11.6 billion. Read more about how consumers are celebrating and shopping for Halloween throughout the season.
sneak calendar
While we’re all familiar with “Christmas creep” and early back-to-school shopping, the start of the Christmas season isn’t often associated with Halloween. But the data tells a different story. This year, 47% of consumers plan to buy things like Halloween costumes and decorations before the start of October, compared to just 32% a decade ago and 40% five years ago.
What’s the main reason shoppers browse and buy more than a month in advance? They’re looking forward to fall. Halloween is more than just a day, the entire season has become synonymous with fall. And retailers are offering the long-lasting products Halloween shoppers want, from Starbucks releasing its pumpkin spice latte earlier than ever to Crate & Barrel declaring “spooky season is here to stay.” I am.
big fan of halloween
No one enjoys the Halloween season more than 25-34 year olds. This age group is more likely to start the holiday earlier than other age groups, with 56% planning to start purchasing Halloween items by October.
These shoppers are also getting into the fall spirit, but they’re significantly more likely to say they shop early because Halloween is one of their favorite holidays. That’s not surprising either. The age group most likely to celebrate Halloween is 86%, spending an average of $124.43 per person on the holiday. That’s about $20 more than consumers overall.
In line with this, there’s also a trend to put out porch pumpkins and spooky decorations early, with 37% planning to decorate by October, compared to 27% of shoppers overall.
Decorations increase spending
While not everyone wants to have a life-sized skeleton in their yard all season long, Halloween decorations are top of mind for shoppers.
More consumers than ever before began purchasing Halloween decorations during the pandemic, driving record growth and continue to purchase and spend on these items today. In fact, from 2019 to 2024, total spending on Halloween decorations increased by 42%, from $2.6 billion to $3.8 billion, and total spending on the holiday increased by 32% over the same period.
Retailers are living up to the hype. Michaels offers several decoration collections for shoppers to choose from, and Spirit Halloween features elaborate displays to inspire consumers’ decorating dreams (or nightmares!).
To learn more about consumers’ Halloween shopping plans, visit NRF’s Halloween headquarters for additional trends and data.
