Creep it real with Out of Home

By Elizabeth Quach, Senior Research & Insight Manager 

As darkness falls on the last night of October, streets, bars, clubs and pubs will be decorated with cobwebs, pumpkins and spooky lights. Halloween celebrations are set to yield £422m, up +23%pts YoY, and reaching near pre-pandemic levels. Both kids and adults are thrilled to be participating in classic Halloween festivities: trick or treating, dressing up for a party, or just indulging in the sweets and chocolates of the day. However, this isn’t just a one-day celebration, those celebrating will be making the extra effort to revel in the real-world fun of a spine-chilling occasion, all weekend long. 

Best dressed award goes to… 

Each year, Halloween costume searches surge as consumers explore fun, quick, unique, or elaborate ideas to dress up. Search terms generate up to 1 million online searches during the month of September alone in the lead up to Halloween*. This year we will see classic witch and vampire sets, couple costumes, and trending Halloween movie inspired costumes. This excitement is supported with retail spend reporting an uplift +6%pts in costume accessories, as well as 3 in 4 agreeing they are feeling more comfortable and content going trick or treating. 

Sweet tooth: 

If there is ever one day to resist the temptation of sweets, Halloween is not the day for it. Consumers will be screaming for more. Retailers should use this as an incentive to expand food & drink options, as three out of the top five Halloween activities participated in were grocery related. They involved purchasing trick or treat sweets, carving a pumpkin and buying food for family and friends. This is a really special celebration for families - 3 in 5 parents are looking forward to treating their children with the Halloween experience (up +14%pts YoY). 

Be-where the scare is: 

There won’t be a shortage for the classic thrill of Halloween. With the growing popularity of the celebration, UK retailers have a great opportunity to generate big money, targeting partygoers, dress up fans and sweets lovers. Halloween is a unique occasion bringing together leisure and retail spend. Consumers are sure to be out at bars and clubs, trick or treaters will be out knocking on doors, and even those staying in are set to be purchasing grocery items in-store. From shopping malls, to supermarkets and the high-street, this is the perfect occasion to serve contextual messaging to target specific celebrators in relevant, retail-led, real-world environments. 

Source: GlobalData Halloween 2021, RedCowMedia: Halloween Google Trends 2021* 

Want to know more on Halloween?

Visit our Retail Occasions hub for all the low-down, or get in touch with our team using the form below to find out how you can activate shoppers around Halloween.

Stay tuned for more updates on other Retail Occasions. We’re already working on uncovering the latest insights for Black Friday and Christmas.
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