NEW YORK -- The second annual American Express Retail Index on Halloween shopping has found that 30% of consumers will shop at supermarkets for their holiday needs, and retailers have geared up to capture a share of the $98 each consumers plan to spend this year on Halloween decorations, costumes and candy.
rvey. Other retailers tracked were discount department stores (33%), department stores (18%) and discount party-supply stores (15%). Multiple choices were included. "Halloween is a great way to bridge the gap between the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons," said Valerie Soranno, vice president and general manager of retail industries at American Express.
Shopping will begin for the highest percentage of consumers (21%) in mid-October. Twelve percent are expected to shop at the last minute -- either Oct. 30 or 31.
Two-thirds of adults surveyed called the holiday popular in their households and just over half said it is becoming as much a holiday for them as it is for their kids.
A quarter of adults said Halloween was popular because they enjoyed being able to celebrate it with their friends and children. More than three-quarters of children are going to dress up, according to the study. Twenty-eight percent of adults said they themselves would dress up this year. In the same survey last year, only 20% said they were going to dress up.
With $22 of the $98 expected to go toward costumes, one food retailer trying to meet the demand and grab the dollar is Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y.
During a recent visit to Wegmans' new Princeton, N.J., unit, SN found masks and Snickers heavily merchandised. The retailer has devoted two sides of a 17-foot section of gondola at the rear of the store to masks and decorations. That section's circular endcap is flared out into the rear perimeter aisle, displaying decorations on boxes. Also protruding into the aisle, on a clothes rack with four cantilever arms, are dozens of hanging costumes. Candy is displayed on nearby cardboard standees as well as on shelving opposite the mask gondola.
Wegmans' in-store decor included a large ceiling hanger -- a plank with a life-size ghoul on it -- above one of the seasonal aisles and, in another aisle, pumpkin cutouts atop freezer cases. Additional themes included a gargoyle cutout atop a refrigerated endcap near the extended seasonal endcap. The gargoyle was looking down onto -- possibly "guarding" -- the extensive endcap display.
According to the survey, witch costumes are among the most popular for 23% of adults and movie monsters and fictional film characters were second and third at 17% and 12%, respectively. For children, superhero and sci-fi characters (each 14%), monsters (13%) and witches (7%) were the Top 3 most-popular responses.
At $30, candy will account for the largest part of the $98 Halloween budget. The study also found that the Top 3 candies consumers plan to give out are Snickers (19%), candy corn (12%) and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (7%).
Rounding out the Halloween budget, consumers plan to spend $16 on pumpkins and $11 on other decorations, the survey said. The remaining $19 of the $98 will be spent on entertainment, parties or functions.
