Americans to Spend $2.5 Billion on Halloween Candy

[cnxvideo id=”510430″ placement=”ros”]Of the total $8.4 billion that the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects U.S. consumers to spend on Halloween celebrations in 2016, about 30% of that will be spent on candy. While $2.5 billion for candy might seem a bit high, it’s less than last year’s estimated $2.6 billion candy bill.

In 2015, the NRF reckoned total spending on Halloween at $6.9 billion, down from $7.4 billion in the previous year. An average U.S. consumer is expected to spend $82.93 on Halloween festivities this year, up from $74.34 last year. More than 71 million Americans are expected to partake in Halloween celebrations this year.

NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said:

After a long summer, families are excited to welcome the fall season celebrating Halloween. Retailers are preparing for the day by offering a wide variety of options in costumes, decorations and candy, while being aggressive with their promotions to capture the most out of this shopping event.

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Here’s how the retailers figure Americans will be spending their money:

• Costumes: $3.1 billion by 67% of Halloween shoppers
• Candy: $2.5 billion by 94.3% of shoppers
• Decorations: $2.4 billion by 70% of shoppers
• Greeting cards: $390 million by 35.4% of shoppers

Most Halloween shopping won’t begin until the first of October, when 44% of celebrants plan to hit the stores. Nearly 35% started earlier than that and nearly 22% won’t start until the last two weeks of October.

The NRF expects 47% of shoppers to hit discount stores to buy their Halloween items. Some 36% are expected to visit specialty Halloween/costume shops, while 26% will depend on grocery stores, 23% will visit department stores and 22% plan to shop online.

Once the shopping is finished, here is what NRF’s survey showed people plan to do for the holiday:

When it comes to preparation, 71 percent of consumers plan to hand out candy, decorate their home or yard (49 percent), dress in costume (47 percent), carve a pumpkin (46 percent), throw or attend a party (34 percent), take their children trick-or-treating (30 percent), visit a haunted house (21 percent) or dress their pet(s) in costume (16 percent).

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