Halloween is always a spooky time of year, but in 2020 it’s downright scary if you’re in retail or the licensing industry.
A survey by the National Retail Federation found there will be a massive drop in participation in Halloween activities this year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic … but the NRF says it could have been worse.
On the down side, more than three-quarters of respondents say the pandemic is affecting their celebration plants and overall participation in Halloween activities will decline to 58 per cent.
On the positive side, Halloween consumer spending in the US is expected to drop less than one might expect, from $8.78 billion in 2019 to $8.05 billion in 2020, mainly because consumers who plan to take part say they will spend more money on creative ways to have fun over the year’s creepiest holiday.
“Some of the most interesting data concerns younger generations, consumers ages 18-24,” Prosper Insights Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “Although fewer are celebrating this year, the ones who are aren’t shying away from Halloween-related purchases, spending $11 more on average, primarily on decorations and candy.”
That said, Halloween spending in general has been declining since it hit a high of $9.1 billion in 2017, representing a $1.1 billion decrease in annual consumer spending in three years.
The other round of horrifying news for brick-and-mortar retailers is that the NRF predicts consumers will follow the same pattern with Halloween purchases as we’ve seen with other shopping habits since the pandemic began, with a pronounced shift toward online shopping.
This year 30 per cent of shoppers plan to make their Halloween purchases online compared to 25 per cent last year.
The NRF also looked at that most important of topics: What is everyone wearing for Halloween this year, and that news is good for licensors and licensees who work with Disney princesses and superheroes. If somebody could get the exclusive licenses for ghosts and witches, they’d make a killing.
Rank |
Children |
Pets |
Adults |
1 |
Princess |
Pumpkin |
Witch |
2 |
Spiderman |
Hot Dog |
Vampire |
3 |
Superhero |
Superhero |
Cat |
4 |
Ghost |
Cat |
Batman |
5 |
Batman |
Bumblebee |
Ghost |
6 |
Witch |
Ghost |
Pirate |
7 |
Vampire |
Dog |
Zombie |
8 |
Frozen (Elsa, Anna) |
Witch |
Nurse |
9 |
Pumpkin |
Devil |
Princess |
10 |
Cat |
Bat |
Doctor/Spiderman* |
Among children the top choices were Princess, Spiderman, Superheroes in general, Batman, and specifically characters from the movie Frozen, which in licensing terms is the gift that keeps on giving.
Adults went a little more ‘off-brand’, so to speak, with most of the top ten costumes involving witches, vampires, cats, zombies, pirates and nurses, but Batman showed up in the listing in the Number 4 slot.
Pets also participate in seasonal costumes, albeit reluctantly, and this year superheroes remains the interesting class for the license industry, comprising five per cent of all Halloween pet outfits.
The survey asked 7,644 consumers about their Halloween shopping plans between Sept. 1-9, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 per cent.