Halloween 2023 Shopping Trends
Report says Millennials are expected to lead spending this year, particularly online, as '90s nostalgia continues to grow in popularity and find its place in today’s pop culture trends.
Jungle Scout, which provides a platform for selling on Amazon, has released a report on consumer spending trends and Amazon product data related to Halloween.
The report, titled “Top Halloween Trends of 2023: '90s Nostalgia & Blockbuster Buzz” projects Millennials will lead spending this year as 1990s nostalgia continues to grow in popularity and find its place in today’s pop culture trends.
Some key takeaways from the research:
- Millennials are spending more than other generations. While 45% of consumers plan to spend less on Halloween this year, 41% of Millennials intend to spend more than they did last year, in contrast to the more conservative Gen X and Baby Boomer generations, which 52% and 50%, respectively, anticipate spending less.
- Younger generations plan to shop online. Nearly 30% of Gen Z and Millennials plan to shop for Halloween online, compared to 16% of Gen X and 5% of Baby Boomers.
- 20% of consumers plan to buy costumes & accessories online.
- 18% of consumers plan to buy candy online.
- 20% of consumers plan to buy decorations & party supplies online.
- Amazon leads over Party City and Spirit Halloween. Forty-four percent of consumers will shop for Halloween on Amazon first, especially Gen Z (56%) and Millennials (58%). Just 10% of consumers turn to Halloween specialty retailer websites such as Partycity.com and SpiritHalloween.com.
- Facebook and Instagram lead social media platforms in terms of where consumers start when shopping online. This is especially true among younger demographics, with Instagram captivating 30% of Gen Z shoppers.
- Consumers are starting earlier. Keyword searches on Amazon for costumes, decorations and candy were more than 100% higher in August than a year ago in 2022.
- ‘90s Nostalgia dominates Halloween costumes: Through September, category trends data from Jungle Scout revealed one big theme — many of the top selling costumes are inspired by the year’s biggest movies (e.g., "Barbie," "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and "The Little Mermaid").
Jungle Scout leveraged its Amazon product and keyword research tools and data from its most recent consumer trends survey to inform its projections for the biggest Halloween trends of 2023. View the full findings from the report on Jungle Scout's website.