• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, October 25, 2017

Advertisers seeking to reach consumers this year during the holidays have a slew of new tools, from Bing to Google, aimed at converting online searches into retail store foot traffic and then attributing the outcome.

A shift in shopping keeps showing up in numerous research studies. The latest from the National Retail Federation, and another from ChargeItSpot, demonstrate the movement in trends.

About 71% of shoppers said they prefer shopping for Halloween-related items in stores versus online shopping. When asked where shoppers will do the majority of their shopping, 51% said they would shop at a party supply store, 13% said at a seasonal pop-up shop, and 7% said big-box superstore.

Some 52% of all shoppers will spend the most on candy, and 28% on costumes, 11% on decorations, and 9% on party supplies. About 54% said they would spend between $200 and $300 on costumes

Some 24% of men are more likely than women -- at 17% -- to wait until the last two weeks of October to begin their shopping, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), which estimates shoppers will spend $9.1 billion on Halloween supplies this year.

Those celebrating Halloween are most likely to look for costumes online. In fact 35.2% said they will look online, per the NRF study, compared with 30.3% in stores.  

The NRF, which worked with Prosper Analytics & Insights to survey 7,013 consumers about their Halloween plans, found more than 3.7 million children plan to dress as action characters or superheros, 2.9 million as Batman characters, 2.9 million as their favorite princess, and 2.2 million will dress as a cat, a dog, a monkey or other animal.

Market research firm Mintel estimates that consumers will spend an average of $82.93.

ChargeItSpot's study suggests that 63% will spend less than $100 overall, 19% plan to spend between $100 and $200; 5%, $200 to $300; 1%, $300 to $400; 3%, $400-$500; and 10%, more than $500.