The experts already are busy prognosticating about what the upcoming holiday shopping season holds for retailers, but what about Halloween?
Not too ghoulish, according to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation. Not only are more consumers looking to have some fright-night fun this year, the percentage of respondents who said they would celebrate the holiday was the highest in the 10-year history of the survey.
And, good news for retailers, consumers said they would also spend more.
In the survey, 69 percent of consumers said they would celebrate Halloween this year,up from 64 percent last year.
More specifically, 44 percent of respondents said they will dress up, up from 40 percent last year, and 15 percent said they'll dress their pets. Half will decorate the house, 34 percent will attend a party, and 74 percent will give out candy.
The average respondent plans to spend $72.31 on costumes, candy and decorations. That's up from $66.28 last year.
Spending on children's costumes alone is expected to jump to $1 billion this year, from $840 million last year. And adults will spend even more on their own look: more than $1.2 billion this year, up from $990 million.
Total Halloween spending is predicted to hit $6.86 billion.
Nearly 9,400 people were surveyed earlier this month by BIGresearch.
--Tiffany Ray
tray@pe.com