16 Oct, 2016Spooky Halloween eCommerce Marketing – Canadian Leaders and Laggards
Spooky Halloween eCommerce Marketing Best Practices
How big is Halloween spending
It turns out that Halloween is greatly overlooked when it comes to eCommerce. You do see a lot of physical stores decorated but online is a different story. With just a few weeks left before Halloween, not many online stores have any mention of Halloween. Many people believe that they need to sell merchandise that is directly related to Halloween so creativity here can go a long way.
Total Spent on Halloween in 2016 $8.4 billion -22% plan to shop online -$1.85 Billion (1).
Below is the chart that provides the total spending by holidays in billions of dollars (2).
How Americans spend their money preparing for the Halloween celebration
National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates average Halloween spending by category (3)
- Costumes: $3.1 billion by 67% of Halloween shoppers
- Candy: $2.5 billion by 94.3% of shoppers
- Decorations: $2.4 billion by 70% of shoppers
- Greeting cards: $390 million by 35.4% of shoppers
5 Halloween eCommerce MarketingTips
Timing – in Canada is more tricky than in the USA since there is only a 3-weeks window after the Canadian Thanksgiving day.
Merchandise selection – you do not need to sell Halloween decorations or costumes to be able to attract buyers. Almost any merchandise you sell can be turned Halloween-centric. For example: for clothes retailer’s colors and designs could be selected, for food-spooky recipes, for office supplies-Halloween crafts, etc.
Omnichannel Decor – Decorate your website and email just as you would a physical store in the holiday décor. Including banners and holiday, colors will sure impress your online visitors.
Follow the current trends – If this year Superheroes are the trending theme include that in your marketing material that will simply evoke an emotional response from your customers.
Holiday Social Media Campaign – People are more active on social networks during this time of the year and more likely to see your holiday ads on Facebook.
Follow the step correctly, and your store can also be part of the almost $2 billion slice easily.
Halloween eCommerce Marketing in Canada – Good Examples
Amazon
Modcloth
Gap
Godiva
Purdys
Home Depot
Zara
Frito Lay
Halloween eCommerce Marketing in Canada – Missed Opportunities
Hershey’s
Laura Secord
Indigo
Toys “R” Us
Sears
References
- HALLOWEEN HEADQUARTERS, https://nrf.com/resources/consumer-data/halloween-headquarters
- Americans to spend $82.93 per shopper on Halloween, http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/09/22/americans-spend-billions-halloween/90802610/
- Americans to Spend $2.5 Billion on Halloween Candy, http://247wallst.com/retail/2016/09/23/americans-to-spend-2-5-billion-on-halloween-candy/
