Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

Other findings include:

* The average consumer celebrating Halloween will spend $64.82 on Halloween, compared to $59.06 last year.

* 28.3 percent of those responding are planning to throw or attend a Halloween party.
Halloween continues as one of the biggest decorating holidays of the year, second only to Christmas.

* 66.7 percent of consumers plan to purchase Halloween decor and 47.8 percent plan to decorate their home or yard. Consumers will spend approximately $1.39 billion on decorations, an average of $26.59 for those planning purchases.

* $1.57 billion will be spent on candy, with 94.7 percent of consumers buying. The average consumer will spend $19.84, and 72.9 percent plan on handing out candy to trick-or-treaters and others.

* Consumers will spend $23.33 on average and 33.8 percent plan to dress in costume. Total spending on costumes, including those for children and pets, is expected to reach $1.82 billion.

* 7.4 million households plan to dress up their pets in costume.

* Greeting cards will be given by 33 percent of consumers, totaling $31 billion.

Because it is not a gift-giving or an apparel holiday, Halloween ranks lower than other annual holidays in terms of spending. Halloween remains the sixth-largest spending holiday after: Winter Holidays, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, and Father's Day. Don't get spooked by these findings. Put a strategy in place now to capture this growing audience next year and scare up even bigger sales.