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About one-third of that shopping will take place online, according to NRF.

NRF projects average spending per person to be $108.24, based on a survey of more than 8,000 consumers conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Per-person spending declined slightly in 2022, down to $100.45 from $102.74 in 2021. Now, it’s projected to grow about 8%.

Greater participation

Halloween participation is set to surpass pre-COVID levels this year, NRF says, after a dip in recent years. 73% of surveyed consumers plan to celebrate Halloween, up from the 2020 low of 58%.

“Spending will be modestly up on last year, but a lot of this will be driven by higher prices, especially in categories like candy,” says Neil Saunders, managing director at retail analysis firm Global Data. “In terms of categories, people are being a bit more frugal on decorations and costumes, but are being more generous with food and drinks to celebrate the occasion.”

69% of consumers celebrating Halloween say they plan to dress up, an increase from 67% last year. NRF projects that costumes will be the largest source of spending increases, making up $4.1 billion this year.

A larger number of respondents say they plan to decorate their homes in some way. More than three-quarters (77%) of consumers that are celebrating plan to decorate, leading to $3.9 billion in spending this year. 

Candy spending is projected to reach $3.6 billion.

Consumers look online for Halloween inspiration

The majority of Halloween spending still takes place in stores, NRF says, but consumers turn to online retailers for ideas. Online searches are the leading source of inspiration for costume ideas, according to the survey. However, online shopping is the third most common place consumers look for Halloween purchases, behind discount stores and Halloween specialty shops.

“Online is a much bigger part of Halloween than it used to be. Most candy and foods are still purchased in person, but online is used a lot more for things like costumes and home decoration as it is easier for consumers to research online and look for things like the best price points,” Saunders says. “That said, stores like Walmart and Target, which are convenient destinations, still do well at Halloween. They are easy for the consumer to visit and still benefit from impulse buying.”

Data from marketplaces software vendor Jungle Scout’s Halloween report indicates that more shoppers might be looking online for Halloween, especially in younger generations. One-third of Gen Z consumers say they plan to do the majority of their costume shopping on Amazon, according to Jungle Scout’s poll of 1,000 online shoppers. 29% each of Gen Z and Millennials plan to do the majority of all Halloween shopping online, the highest of any generation tracked by Jungle Scout.

Halloween spending starts early

Consumers also started their Halloween shopping earlier this year, according to Jungle Scout. Amazon searches for Halloween items picked up earlier in 2023 than they did in 2022. Specifically, searches for the major Halloween categories of decor, costumes, and candy were all more than 100% higher in August 2023 than in August 2022, according to Jungle Scout research.

“Younger consumers are eager to begin their Halloween shopping, with more than half of those ages 25-44 planning to shop before or during September,” Phil Rist, Prosper executive vice president of strategy, said in a statement from NRF.

That fits with early analysis of Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale, which unofficially kicked off the holiday shopping season. The October sales pushed holiday spending earlier in the year, says Kasi Socha, analyst at retail data research company Gartner.

Halloween spending doesn’t necessarily indicate much about the larger holiday season because it tends to drive less spending, Saunders says. However, if Halloween spending is especially robust, it could give retailers more confidence for the rest of the season, he says.

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The Global B2B Buyer Behavior Report, which surveyed 1,006 buyers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, found that three-quarters of them purchased online but cited concerns about accurate pricing, web page load times and customer support, among other issues. The survey was conducted for ecommerce technology vendor BigCommerce in May by the Price Intelligently data research unit of Paddle, an online payments technology provider.

“The No. 1 reason B2B buyers abandoned their carts was because of technical issues faced at checkout,” the report says. Survey respondents said their main concern about checkout was viewing online displays of complete and accurate pricing.

Global B2B Buyer Behavior Report findings

The report asserts that B2B and retail ecommerce activity is blending among many buyers. This results in more B2B buyers expecting the ease of online shopping they’ve become accustomed to on online retail sites and marketplaces.

The report provides survey results separately for buyers in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. Some of the report’s notable findings include that, compared with U.K. and Australian B2B buyers, U.S. buyers rely more on online marketplaces to find products. Another notable finding is that 42% of all survey respondents say they still rely on printed paper catalogs to discover products. In addition, the report notes that the B2B purchasing and checkout processes are complicated, requiring B2B ecommerce sites to provide the online shopping and checkout experiences B2B buyers require.

“The way B2B buyers shop is changing, and B2B merchants need to adapt,” Lance Owide, general manager of B2B at BigCommerce, says in a statement about the report. “Buyers are turning to online channels to research, compare and purchase products.”

Following are the survey results for the percentages of U.S. buyers regarding how they discover products, their expected shopping experience, and the checkout process. (Percentages refer to the percentage of respondents.)

How U.S. B2B buyers discover products:

• 66% — Internet search.
• 58% — Online marketplaces.
• 42% — Product catalog (printed paper).
• 42% — Industry association.
• 35% — Online ads.
• 33% — Referrals.
• 29% — Industry publications.
• 24% — Physical ads.
• 23% — Social media ads.
• 23% — Trade shows.
• 14% — TV ads.

The purchasing channels U.S. B2B buyers use:

• 75% — Supplier website.
• 65% — B2B marketplace.
• 53% — In-store/at vendor’s warehouse
• 44% — Sales representative.
• 28% — Social media channels.

The top causes of abandoned carts for U.S. B2B buyers:

• 31% — Technical issues like inaccurate pricing.
• 23% — Lack of secure checkout.
• 17% — Shipping and delivery.
• 15% — Complicated checkout process.
• 8% — Lack of payment options.
• 6% — Lack of payment term options.

U.S. B2B buyers’ most-used payment methods:

• 80% — Credit card.
• 49% — Debit card.
• 39% — ACH/direct entry/direct debit.
• 32% — Third-party payment apps.
• 31% — Digital wallets.
• 28% — Purchase order invoicing.
• 21% — Electronic check.
• 18% — Physical check.
• 14% — Terms through third-party service.
• 10% — Cryptocurrency.

Top reasons that motivate U.S. B2B buyers to purchase online:

1. Customer ratings and reviews.
2. Promotions and marketing.
3. Peer recommendations.
4. Industry publications.
5. Competitors’ usage.
6. Trade events.

Top reasons U.S. B2B buyers purchase online:

1. Compare products and prices across competing vendors.
2. Customize orders; select products and quantities.
3. Save my purchase history; reorder; track orders.
4. Purchase anytime, anywhere.
5. Easier to know my total cost.
6. See live inventory availability and out-of-stock items.
7. Receive customized product suggestions based on search/purchase history.

Top pain points U.S. B2B buyers experience online:

1. Inaccurate pricing and shipping options.
2. Slow website load times.
3. Difficult to contact customer support.
4. Complicated checkout.
5. Poor search and navigation.
6. No real-time inventory information.
7. Data privacy concerns.
8. Lack of payment options.
9. Limited flexibility of pricing/discounting.

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Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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