Omnichannel Trends for Halloween

You’ve probably noticed Halloween is around the corner – spooky decorations, pumpkin spice treats, hayrides, and (of course) candy filling your grocery store’s aisles.

Last year, total Halloween-related spending reached about $10 billion ($2 billion more than the spend in 2020).  

So, what can we expect for Halloween this year amid fickle supply chains and inflation?

Well, the National Retail Federation anticipates Halloween spending will grow this year to $10.6 billion. About 68% of consumers plan to participate in some sort of Halloween celebration (compared to 65% last year) and will spend about $100 on candy, costumes, and decorations. Halloween pet spending is expected to surpass 2021’s record high sales, hitting $710 million. 

“As consumers continue to return to pre-pandemic behaviors, retailers are prepared to meet that demand and help make this holiday a fun and memorable one,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay.  

In-Store Shopping

We think retailers are in for a happy Halloween season. Retail Dive says that consumers plan to shop at discount stores (40%), specialty Halloween or costume stores (36%), and online (31%).  

For those shopping in-store, 74% say that in-store promotion is the form of advertising most likely to influence their purchase of a specific Halloween candy brand while 64% say coupons influence their purchase. Only 14% say social media influences their purchase. 

Spirit Halloween maintains it’s the largest Halloween retailer in North America. Its footprint has gone up by 50% in the past decade. “2022 is shaping up to be an incredible year,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “It’s clear that Halloween has grown bigger than one single day and our goal is to help our guests embrace every aspect of the Halloween lifestyle as they celebrate the season and beyond.” 

Last year’s in-store Halloween candy sales were pretty level with 2019, but e-commerce sales soared by 430% according to Quotient.  

Omnichannel Opportunities

When it comes to the holidays, retailers should blend their digital strategy with brick-and-mortar plans. Gartner explains that real-time visibility to your stock availability across channels is essential. It takes connected data – from every product to every competitor – to make the best customer experience. 

To take advantage of Halloween’s incredible, yet fairly short demand spike, retailers use intelligence to calculate the number of products and assortment allocations based on local demands.

How Retailers Use Competitive Intelligence During Halloween

• Get accurate and comprehensive match coverage across competitors 
• Receive assortment recommendations and promotional comparisons 
• Collect data from hard-to-access sites and hard-to-match categories like private label 
• Eliminate manual mapping and cleansing 
• Integrate your competitive intelligence with syndicated data for price action recommendations 

Coming Soon: Winter Holidays

Did you know that half of winter holiday shoppers plan to start holiday shopping by October 31?

This year, inflation concerns are real – 40% of holiday shoppers say that inflation is changing how they shop, with most trying money-saving strategies. That might mean less purchases, waiting for promotions, using coupons, or opting for private label brands. 

Last year, consumers prioritized availability, but this year’s consumers will prioritize pricing.

Salesforce estimates that half of all shoppers worldwide will switch to a different brand this holiday season because of pricing. 

Actionable Intelligence Delivered to You

43% of all candy purchases in October take place during the last week of the month. Laurentia Romaniuk, Instacart’s trends expert says, “What’s actually spooky is that October 31st is the peak day for Halloween candy purchases as many households scramble to get ready for trick-or-treaters.” That means there’s still time for you to position yourself as a leader in the market. 

Innovative companies will opt for a data-driven approach to adjust to holiday-related challenges. It’s time for you to leverage assortment, pricing, out of stock, and promotional details from across the web to boost your sales and retain customer loyalty. 

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