Spooky season is here: Nearly half of Halloween shoppers plan to buy items before October

Americans will spend $12 billion this Halloween

Consumer strategist Lisa Miller joins LiveNOW from FOX to share the upward consumer spending expected this Halloween in 2023.

It’s officially spooky season, and Halloween shopping is on the rise.

According to a new survey by the National Retail Federation and conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, nealy half of surveyed shoppers (47%) begin their holiday shopping before October.

This figure is up 10% from just five years ago and compares with just 32% in 2014.

The survey asked nearly 8,000 consumers about their Halloween shopping plans earlier this month.

According to the data, Halloween spending is expected to reach $11.6 billion, after last year’s record-setting $12.2 billion.

People shop for Halloween items at a home improvement retailer store (Credit: Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

"Halloween marks the official transition to the fall season for many Americans, and consumers are eager to get a jump start on purchasing new seasonal décor and other autumnal items," NRF’s vice president of industry and consumer insights Katherine Cullen said. "Retailers are prepared to meet this early demand by offering shoppers all the holiday essentials to make this year’s celebrations memorable."

Early demand for ghosts, ghouls and Halloween items rises

The survey also revealed that early demand for ghouls, ghosts and other Halloween items continues to grow.

The top reasons shared by early shoppers included looking forward to the fall season (48%), avoiding the stress of last-minute shopping (38%), and because Halloween was one of their favorite holidays (37%).

"Interest in early Halloween shopping continues to be dominated by the 25-34 age group, with 56% of shoppers in this group kicking off their shopping before October," Phil Rist, Prosper’s executive vice president of strategy, said.

In addition, 72% of consumers said they planned to celebrate Halloween this year, consistent with last year’s record of 73%. Top holiday activities included handing out candy (67%), decorating their home or yard (52%), dressing up in costume (49%), carving a pumpkin (43%) and throwing or attending a party (29%).

Those taking part in the spooky season planned to spend an average of $103.63, about $4.62 less than last year’s record of $108.24.

Halloween candy remains most popular item to buy

Across spending categories, candy remained the most popular, with total spending expected to reach $3.5 billion. Total spending on decorations is also expected to hit $3.8 billion, followed by costumes ($3.8 billion) and greeting cards ($0.5 billion).

Discount stores (37%) remain the top destination to buy Halloween items, followed by specialty Halloween/costume stores (33%) and online (33%).

Adult, kids costumes ranked

This Halloween, 2.6 million children plan on dressing up as Spider-Man, 1.8 million as a ghost, 1.7 million as a princess, 1.6 million as a witch and 1.5 million as their favorite superhero, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, 76% of adults already know their costume, which remains in line with 75% last year. Among adults, 5.8 million plan on dressing up as a witch, 3 million as a vampire, 1.6 million as a cat, 1.5 million as Batman and 1.4 million as a pirate.

Popular costumes for pets include a pumpkin (10%), a hot dog (6%), a bat (4%), a ghost (3%) and a bumblebee (3%).