Come October 31, one shall witness galore of ghosts, goblins, and zombies take over the cold autumn night, their apparition lurking in streets, driveways and on your front porch. Beware, for Halloween is fast approaching! Surprisingly, the trend of spending for this day is equally spooky, for sales skyrocket as the day draws nearer. Here is a peek at statistics of this   shopping frenzy event.

Annual Revenue Generated

Projected cost and value of Halloween for 2013 is $6.9 billion

Overall cost and value of Halloween for 2012 was $8.0 billion

Overall cost and value of Halloween for 2011 was $6.86 billion

Halloween Participants

 This year, 65.8% i.e. 158 million Americans, will celebrate and participate in Halloween and activities relevant to it, making it slightly less to previous year’s (2012) record high of 71.5% i.e. 170 million people. Interestingly, the participation figure of 2011 was substantially higher in comparison to present year, coming close to 68.6% i.e. 161 million celebrants.

Average Spending of Participants (each year)

 2013 – $75.03 per person

2012 – $79.82 per person

2011 – $72.31 per person

People and Choices

72.0% will be prepared to hand out candies

47.5% want to decorate their home and yard

44.2% will engage in carving a pumpkin

43.6% shall dress up in costume

31.7% will take their kids trick or treating

30.9% plan to either throw or attend a party

20.3% look forward to visiting a haunted house

13.8% are eager to dress their pets in costume

Merchandise Sales

Above preferences clearly equate to expenditure, therefore, just how much will be spent on Halloween related products?

On Costumes – Total $2.6 billion

Breakdown in order of participants

Kids – $1.04 billion

Adults – $1.22 billion

Pets – $0.33 million

On Candies – $2.08 billion

On Decorations – $1.96 billion

On Greeting Cards – $0.36 million

Planning and Shopping

 All that buying calls for planning. So, when does America start its spending spree?

Shopping Trend

As little as 5.0%, begin before September

There is a steady rise up to 27.8% in mid-September

43.6% shoppers participate in first two weeks of October, making it the busiest

Last two weeks of October sees 23.6% doing last minute shopping

Impact of Economy

 The state of the U.S. economy will influence one’s spending plans for Halloween. However, the impact varies consumer to consumer. To what extent does it affect?

Power of Purchasing

25.2% consumers say their buying plans largely depend on the state of the economy

74.8% confirmed their plans would not be affected at all

Economic Influence

In spite of a popular celebration, one fourth of U.S. consumers acknowledge their dependency on the state of the economy. How will its influence be seen?

The Purchase Crunch

86.1% will spend less

32.7% will purchase less candy

19.9% will reuse or repurpose previous year’s decoration

18.1% will make costume(s) instead of buying

15.3% will not participate in most Halloween activities

13.9% will reuse their previous year’s costume(s)

06.1% will avoid giving candy