One quarter of Australians will celebrate Halloween this year, with expenditure expected to hit $430 million, according to research commissioned by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA).
The study was conducted in collaboration with ARA and Roy Morgan, an independent Melbourne-based social and political market research firm. According to the survey, Australians expect to spend an average of $86 per person this Halloween.
The ARA says 88 per cent of Australians who celebrate Halloween anticipate spending the same amount or more than they did the previous year. A majority (51 per cent) intend to celebrate by buying candy for “trick or treaters”, dressing up in costumes (47 per cent) and decorating their homes (40 per cent) before going to or hosting a Halloween party (23 per cent).
“Consumers are forecast to spend $430 million on their Halloween celebrations, stocking up on food and sweets and purchasing costumes and decorations,” ARA CEO Paul Zahra said. “Some families go above and beyond with lighting and decorative efforts around their homes, while hospitality venues also get involved with Halloween-themed food and cocktails.”
Zahra added that Halloween has become “a highly anticipated seasonal event” for many stores and is “a great time to build sales momentum” for merchants leading up to Christmas.
The ARA-Roy Morgan Snap SMS poll was performed with a cross-section of 2853 Australians aged over 18.
This story first appeared on our sister publication Inside Retail
