"Last year, Halloween spending reached $9 billion, the second highest Halloween spending seen post-​recession. Consumers are ready to celebrate and shop to kick off the festivities. NRF and Prosper’s annual Halloween Spending Survey found that seven in 10 consumers planned to celebrate in 2018, and they spent an average of nearly $90 per person. Celebrants plan to purchase everything from decorations to candy to costumes (even for beloved pets)."

"What’s Halloween without costumes? Last year, kids planned to dress as their favorite princess or super hero, while pets donned adorable pumpkin, hotdog or bumble bee getups. Adults, on the other hand, stuck with the traditional spookiness of Halloween, dressing as witches, vampires and zombies."

"Last year, nine in 10 celebrants planned to buy candy, while others spent their Halloween budgets on decorations, greeting cards and costumes for themselves, children or even their pets:

• 95% planned to purchase candy
• 72% planned to purchase decorations
• 69% planned to purchase costumes
• 37% planned to purchase greeting cards"

"There are a variety of ways to celebrate Halloween and, last year, seven in 10 planned to do so, most likely handing out candy, decorating and dressing up. Women are much more likely than men to celebrate by carving pumpkins and decorating their homes. Men, on the other hand, are significantly more likely to attend a party."

"The top places to find Halloween inspiration last year included online searches (35.2%), inside a physical store (29.3%) and through friends and family (19.4%). Pop culture also continued to be a source of inspiration for 15.9% of Halloween celebrators. Additionally, 18.6% turned to Pinterest for costume inspiration while 16.1% looked on Facebook and 14.7% turned to YouTube."

"Shoppers planned to make their Halloween purchases from:

• Discount stores: 44.6%
• Specialty Halloween/​costume stores: 34.9%
• Department stores: 24.7%
• Online: 24.4%
• Grocery stores/​supermarkets: 24.1%
• Crafts or fabrics stores: 13.8%"

As stated, many Party Hosts/​Attendees are turning to the internet for inspiration for their Halloween plans. According to AudienceSCAN, within the last month, 74.9% used a search engine to research a product they were considering, 45.7% looked for how-​do and do-​it-​yourself information and 39.9% visited a local store's website to research products. They're also 53% more likely than others to find ads on social networks useful and are active on sites such as Facebook (84.3%), YouTube (60.5%), Instagram (50.4%) and Pinterest (44.8%). Additionally, last year, these consumers were driven to action by direct mail ads (64.2%), TV commercials (62.1%), email ads (57.1%) and ads on daily deals sites such as Groupon (52.9%).

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. In addition, AdMall contains industry profiles on party supply stores, candy stores and used merchandise stores, as well as lead lists at the local level. Media companies, sales reps and agencies can access this data with a subscription to AdMall from SalesFuel.