Inflation and Halloween Consumer Spending: Less Scary Than Predicted?

by | Oct 20, 2023

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Is it ever too early for Spooky Season? Or should Halloween be an October-only event? We performed smartphone-enabled market research in the key markets of the United States, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil to dig into their Halloween preparations, and thankfully, the results were not scary for CPG brands.

Who’s celebrating Halloween?

Between our target areas of the US, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, you might be surprised at who celebrates Halloween the most frequently. While Halloween is known as a US tradition, only 56% of US respondents report celebrating Halloween every year. Mexico’s number was exactly the same.

The country that goes all out for Halloween year-after-year? Colombia!

Seventy-four percent of Colombian respondents report celebrating Halloween every single year.

Eighty-six percent of Colombians, true to form, plan to celebrate Halloween this year. They’re followed by 77% of Mexicans, 59% of US residents, and 55% of Brazilians. Although Brazil has the greatest number of respondents reporting that they celebrate “occasionally,” only 25% of diehards observe the holiday every year.

Halloween: Too much, too soon?

We sent our Contributors out starting on the week after Labor Day to observe how stores in the US, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil were preparing for the holiday. The most common displays they found? Halloween candy, followed by Halloween-themed party supplies and home decor.

On average, 77% of US, Colombia, and Mexico residents have already seen an in-store display for Halloween this year. Only 50% of Brazilians reported the same. Most respondents, especially those in Latin America, agree that Halloween displays are appearing in stores “at the right time” rather than too soon or too late. Forty percent of US residents, however, would like to see Halloween displays go up a bit later in the year.

Halloween-themed product displays in stores

Halloween Spending Habits

Are they going shopping? Universally yes! While most respondents say they have some Halloween shopping already in the candy bag, only an average of 19% have everything they need.

What’s still on the shopping list for the season’s spookiest day?

  • Beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic)
  • Salty snacks
  • Party supplies
  • Materials to make their own costumes

What do they already have? It appears people shop early for:

  • Home decor
  • Candy
  • Ready-to-wear costumes

It seems consumers all over the world are costume-shopping early, but planning to buy everything for a haunting Halloween party closer to the actual holiday. With less than 20% of consumers reporting they have everything they need for Halloween, you can be sure they’ll be hitting the shops for more spooky fare.

Is inflation impacting Halloween spending?

Inflation is on everyone’s mind these days. We asked respondents directly if they see inflation influencing their spending. In the US, respondents said they’re spending more in some categories, but mainly spending about the same as last year.

Mexican and Colombian respondents agreed they were seeing inflation in some categories. Fifty-nine percent of Brazilians, the most reluctant Halloween-celebrants, said inflation is causing them to spend much less on Halloween products this year than last year.

Premise’s Halloween campaign is ongoing. Stay tuned here for our follow-up as we creep closer to the scariest day of the year.

Graph: Is inflation impacting Halloween spending?

Drive Distribution and Perfect Execution with Premise

Trying to make real-time decisions with old data is downright scary. Making smart, data-driven decisions requires the right data, right now. That’s where Premise comes in.

With Premise’s Execution Intelligence solutions, brands can verify in-store promotion compliance and make adjustments while campaigns are still live using store-level data. Brands can also monitor promotional activity from competitors and react quickly with real-time insights.

Working with Premise’s omnipresent insights is like having an army of trick-or-treaters on your side all year round.