Year: 2020
Market size: $8.05 billion
Will you be celebrating Halloween this year? If so, you’ll be among the 58% of consumers in the United States who plan to do so in 2020, an estimated 148 million people. However, this is fewer than the 172 million who planned to celebrate the holiday in 2019.
Concerns about the coronavirus pandemic have people avoiding many activities associated with the holiday, activities in which social distancing may be difficult. Fewer people are planning to throw or attend a party, visit a haunted house, go trick-or-treating, or hand out candy. However, more people are planning to carve a pumpkin and decorate their homes. More people are also expected to dress up their pets, pumpkin being the most popular costume.
Today’s market size shows the total amount U.S. consumers are expected to spend on Halloween in 2020. This continues a downward trend from the record high of $9.1 billion in 2017. Consumers are expected to spend about the same amount as they did in 2012. What will they buy? They plan to spend the most on costumes and decorations ($2.6 billion each), followed by candy ($2.4 billion), and greeting cards ($0.4 billion). Spending on costumes and candy is expected to be lower this year than in 2019 while spending on decorations and greeting cards is expected to remain unchanged. While fewer people will be celebrating the holiday, those that will are expected to spend more on average than they did a year ago, $92.12 per shopper, up from $86.27 in 2019. The average shopper is expected to spend more on decorations, candy, and greeting cards.
In the past 5 years, social media has had an increasing influence over what people buy for Halloween. Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram have the most influence among social media platforms. Of these four, YouTube’s influence grew the most (+3%) from 2019 to 2020, followed by Facebook and Instagram (+2% each). Pinterest’s influence stayed the same. Still, a greater percentage of consumers rely on online searches (35%) and browsing in stores (23%) for Halloween shopping inspiration. In 2019, ideas from friends and family edged out Pinterest and Facebook for shopping inspiration; In 2020, they’re in a three-way tie.
Sources: “Halloween Data Center,” National Retail Federation available online here; “Consumers Anticipate New Ways to Celebrate Halloween, Despite COVID-19,” National Retail Federation Press Release, September 15, 2020 available online here; “Halloween Consumer Spending and Celebration Plans,” National Retail Federation Infogram available online here.Original source: Surveys conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics for the National Retail Federation.
Image source: Adapted from Alexas_Fotos, “halloween-ghosts-pumpkin-4588378,” Pixabay, October 30, 2019 available online here.