WASHINGTON-More than one-half of all U.S. consumers will decorate their homes for Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween consumer spending survey.
Conducted for NRF by BIGinsight, the survey found that 51.4 percent of shoppers will decorate their home or yard for the holiday, up from 49.5 percent last year. Overall, U.S. consumers are expected to spend an average of $79.82 on decorations, costumes and candy, up from $72.31 last year. This would bring total Halloween-related spending to about $8 billion for this year.
Phil Rist, BIGinsight executive vice president of strategic initiatives, said, “There’s certainly pent-up demand for having some fun this year, and shoppers are planning to spend their hard-earned dollars on items that help them get into the Halloween spirit.”
That being said, consumers also exhibited some caution in the survey. More than one-fourth (25.9 percent) of the survey respondents said the state of the economy will affect their Halloween spending plans. Eighteen percent said they plan to make a costume instead of buying one, and 36.1 percent said they will buy less candy.