By Ed Avis
Halloween is over! There is still lots of clean-up to do and shelves need to be restocked for the holidays, but data is trickling in about how successful Halloween was for independent stores. The conclusion? Not that great.
In an NCA survey taken last week, fully 70 percent of respondents reported that sales of costumes and masks were "somewhat worse" or "much worse" in 2023 compared to 2022. Costume rentals fared equally poorly – 71 percent said were "somewhat worse" or "much worse" this year.
Why? An open-ended question in the survey asked store owners how they felt overall, and their responses provided some insight.
First, several store owners complained of shipping problems that delayed their stock arrival until October. That was probably an anecdotal problem more than an overall problem -- the survey also asked about stocking and only 21 percent of respondents said they received less than 75 percent of what they ordered. Nevertheless, this is a problem that lies with the vendors and, hopefully, can be fixed. During Covid we all understood that worldwide shipping was disrupted, but that's passed now.
Speaking of vendors, one respondent complained about having to compete with them: “Vendors are increasingly and unashamedly competing directly with us on e-sales platforms, impacting sales and adding insult to injury.”
Another reason sales were down was the fact that Halloween fell on a Tuesday. Kids still want to trick or treat regardless of the day, but a mid-week Halloween definitely lessens the enthusiasm for adult parties...and those corresponding sales. Plus last-minute costume shoppers who had to work on Monday and Tuesday probably were less likely to get to the store.
Inflation was another problem respondents cited -- not necessarily inflation in the cost of their own products, but rather inflation on household necessities, which means buyers had less left over for costumes. This may have explained another problem stores reported: Everyone seemed to wait until the last two weeks of October to buy. Maybe they were holding their purses tightly until the last minute.
“Disappointed with sales this year,” on survey respondent wrote. “A lot of people did not have as much to spend on Halloween due to increased costs for basic necessities.”
Finally, of course, lots of people complained about the ultimate bugaboo -- Amazon and the big box stores. One respondent said Spirit Halloween opened FIVE stores in his town! Hard to compete against that, at least for shoppers who are spooked by inflation and seeking the cheapest possible costumes.
There were bright spots in the survey. Several respondents said they knew sales would dip after the pent-up demand post-Covid evaporated, so they planned accordingly and stocked a bit less. Those respondents said Halloween lived up to -- or rather "down to" -- their diminished expectations.
Here are a few of the positive, or at least semi-positive, comments made by survey respondents:
“We were relieved by the end of the season. It was slower to build than usual and we were quite worried. Friday the 13th was magical -- suddenly everyone realized that Halloween was approaching. Sales finally started to build and ‘browsers’ finally turned into ‘shoppers.’”
“Almost nothing was going on until the last 10 days. I always say this but it was more so this year then any other one. It poured on afterwards but off by a little bit. Not bad but a little underwhelming.”
“We were pleased. Even though we were down from last year by about 13%, we were even with 2021 and just looking at 2023 as the year EVERYONE was done with COVID. So back to ‘normal’ this year. Could have been just a little higher, but overall, ok.”
A few respondents reported increased sales this year. About 9 percent said costume and mask sales were up this year; 12 percent said sales of accessories and make-up climbed; and 10 percent said costume rentals were up. Those numbers are not exactly amazing, but it's good to know that some shops did well this year.
We also surveyed our Vendor Members, and 7 of them responded. Of them, 3 said sales were better than last year; 2 said sales were about the same; 1 said sales were worse and 1 said sales were much worse.
There was some encouraging data about how many NCA members are using their member benefits to better stock their stores. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they use the Buyer’s Group to get discounts; 31 percent ordered from the NCA Bundle Program; 25 percent ordered “last-minute” specials from NCA Vendor Members; and 28 percent ordered NCA Exclusive products.
Halloween 2024 will fall on a Thursday night. Not a great night, but certainly better than Tuesday. Let’s hope a lot of people consider Thursday the start of the weekend and Halloween 2024 is more lively than it was this year!