Nothing scary about this forecast

There is good news for retailers in a just-released survey on Halloween spending.



Americans will splurge on costumes, candy and pumpkins for a record $9.1 billion in Halloween spending this year, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. That's up 8.3% from last year’s previous record of $8.4 billion.



Consumers are expected to spend an average $86.13, up from last year’s $82.93, with 179 million Americans planning to partake in Halloween festivities, up from 171 million in 2016. According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $3.4 billion on costumes (purchased by 69% of Halloween shoppers), $2.7 billion on candy (95%), another $2.7 billion on decorations (72%) and $410 million on greeting cards (37%).



When it comes to buying costumes and other Halloween supplies, 47% of shoppers will visit discount stores and 38% will go to a specialty Halloween store or costume store. In addition, 25% will visit supermarkets, 24% will buy at department stores and 22% will shop online.



Proving that Halloween isn’t just for kids, a record number of adults (48%) plan to dress in costume this year. More than 5.8 million adults plan to dress like a witch, 3.2 million as their favorite Batman character, 3 million as an animal (cat, dog, cow, etc.), and 2.8 million as a pirate.