HalloweenCostumes.com Release Results of Their 2020 ‘Halloween in America’ Survey

HalloweenCostumes.com, the largest online-only retailer of Halloween costumes, has officially released the results of their 2020 “Halloween in America” survey. With the economic effects of COVID-19, many are left wondering how the virus will affect the way people celebrate Halloween this year. HalloweenCostumes.com surveyed 1,505 respondents to reveal how the United States will celebrate this upcoming Halloween.

Overall Findings:

• 30.86% of adults surveyed believe that kids between ages 13-14 should be able to trick-or-treat by themselves. Other responses included ages 7-8 (5.19%), ages 9-10 (8.70%), ages 11-12 (28.70%), and 15+ (26.55%).
• 36.69% said there is no age limit to trick or treating. Other responses included 11 and older (2.44%), 13 and older (8.62%), 15 and older (24.29%) and 17 and older (27.95%).
• 40.39% were unsure if there are enough age-appropriate costumes for girls. Other responses included yes (30.75%) and no (28.86%).
• 34.27% said there are not enough plus-size costume options. Other responses included yes (15.54%) and I’m not sure (50.19%).
• 1 in 5 pet owners surveyed said they would dress their pet in a costume for Halloween.
• 34.17% of adults surveyed said they would spend less on Halloween this year compared to last year. Other responses included more (7.86%), the same (33.65%) and I’m not sure (24.31%).
• 31.65% of adults surveyed were unsure if COVID-19 would affect the way they celebrate Halloween this year. Other responses included yes (39.85%) and no (28.5%).
• 1 in 3 adults surveyed said they will wear protective facemasks this Halloween. Other responses included yes, but under a Halloween masks (9.19%), no (19.96%) and I am not sure (26.57%).
• When asked how they are planning to celebrate Halloween this year:

• ​36.70% adults responded that they will be giving out candy to trick-or-treaters.
• 19.18% adults are putting out self-serve candy.
• 12.58% of the respondents responded that they will be going to a trunk or treat event.
• 12.44% adults are attending/hosting an in-person party.
• 5.36% said they are attending/hosting an online/remote party.
• 42.32% of the respondents said they are decorating and celebrating at home.
• 0.17% of the respondents will spend their Halloween working this year.
• 14.71% of respondents said they would not celebrate Halloween in 2020: this data does not figure into the results above.

Although Halloween will be celebrated differently this year, Tom Fallenstein, CEO of HalloweenCostumes.com, says the company is optimistic about this year’s celebration and is preparing for a busy season with a later surge than usual.

“We saw an initial drop in our overall costume sales back in March and April. But within the past few months, we’ve seen our sales increase year-over-year,” Fallenstein said.

Fallenstein also hypothesizes that the increase in sales is partially due to consumers wanting to avoid shopping in-person during the pandemic. He also mentions part of their optimism stems from their Easter bunny costume sales reaching an all-time high.

“The strong performance of our Easter bunny costumes while the pandemic was spreading across the country, indicated that most people are still very much excited to celebrate holidays. Even if they have to celebrate in a different way,” Fallenstein said.

Though the pandemic will likely have effects on Halloween, Fallenstein says the company has already seen several creative ways to celebrate the holiday.

“We will see many alternatives to trick-or-treating and Halloween parties. We’ve seen families plan creative celebrations including boo-bags, trunk-or-treats, and car parades so they can still celebrate the season safely. Despite all of the changes, there is one aspect we believe will remain the same, Halloween-lovers across the globe will still experience the joy of dressing up in a costume this year. No one wants to be the parent to tell their kids they can’t celebrate Halloween,” Fallenstein said.

“Family traditions can endure, as they always have, with a few unique changes for the health and safety of everyone. Halloween is a happy time of year for people around the world and I think we all need that now more than ever.”

Methodology

The study was conducted for HalloweenCostumes.com through Google Surveys. The survey interviewed 1,505 U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 54 on Sept. 8 through 10, 2020.

Located in North Mankato, Minnesota, HalloweenCostumes.com is a family-owned and operated business. What began as a small business operating out of a garage a couple of months a year has turned into a globally recognized online retailer with over 300 year-round employees and thousands of seasonal employees in less than a decade. The company ships to over 150 countries in the world year-round and is the largest costume producer in the world.