Fear not, Halloween sales won’t be scary

The outlook for Christmas spending is decent and Halloween is supposed to be pretty good too.

Even though Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year – always a negative for adult entertainment activities – sales are still expected to increase by a respectable margin, according to the National Retail Federation. The trade group’s recent spending intentions survey conducted by BIGinsight, has the average person spending $79.82 on Halloween stuff this year compared to $72.31 last year. Total spending in the Halloween category is forecast to reach $8 billion, which is good news for Walmart considering its store have regained customer traffic throughout the year.

"By the time Halloween rolls around each year it’s safe to say Americans have already spent two months preparing for one of the fastest-growing and most widely-loved holidays of the year," said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. "Retailers know that when it comes to Halloween, new costume ideas for children, adults and pets, and the latest in home and yard décor top people’s shopping lists. We expect retailers to stock their shelves well ahead of time to capture the attention of eager holiday shoppers."

Costumes continue to be a big source of spending, especially for families with children, who will spend a total of $1.1 billion on their children’s costumes, up slightly from $1 billion last year. Not to be outdone by their children, adults will spend $1.4 billion on costumes, up from $1.2 billion in 2011. Pets are also a growing market, with pet owners planning to spend $370 million on pint-sized costumes, up from $310 million in 2011.

Despite record spending figures for this year’s Halloween holiday, one-fourth of U.S. consumers (25.9%) say the state of the economy will impact their Halloween plans. To compensate, 18% will make a costume instead of buying one and over one-third (36.1%) will buy less candy.