Halloween in Britain: Unravelling British shopping preferences, spending patterns
It’s the season of haunted houses, costume parties, pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating. In this piece, we’re exploring YouGov data to see what Britons are up to this Halloween - what kind of activities they expect to be involved in, what inspires their costume choices, where they might shop at for Halloween-related items and what exactly they’ll be shopping for.
The Halloween activity schedule
Over two in five Brits (41%) say compared to other holidays, Halloween is important to them or their family members - a sentiment most echoed among 25-to-34-year-old Brits (54%).
On the other hand, nearly three in five Britons (57%) say Halloween isn’t important to them and 55+ year olds (75%) are most likely to agree.
Further, half of all Brits surveyed (50%) don’t participate in any Halloween activities.
But among those who do, pumpkin carving is the most popular activity (27%) followed by decorating the home (23%) and watching Halloween-themed movies or shows (23%).
A recently published YouGov piece reveals that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Alien: Romulus and The Crow are the most popular horror movie titles among Brits this Halloween.
Halloween is hardly complete without costumes.
Data from YouGov Surveys: Serviced reveals that nearly three in five Brits (57%) use a mix of store-bought items and items they already have to make Halloween costumes for themselves or their family.
A third of them (33%) prefer going the store-bought way and buy ready-made costumes (something men, at 36% are more likely to do than women, at 30%) while less than one in ten (8%) opt for the DIY fix and made costumes themselves.
But what’s influencing Britons’ Halloween costume choices?
Store-bought or made-at-home, traditional Halloween themes such as modelling themselves after witches or vampires, is the top influencing factor (57%), followed by budgets considerations (53%) and personal interests and hobbies (37%).
Women are slightly more likely than men to factor in budget constraints (54% vs. 52%) when making costume-related choices. But men take the lead in other factors - be it traditional themes (60% vs. 55%), pop culture trends (37% vs. 30%) or family or group themes (36% vs. 23%).
The Halloween haul
Half of all Brits (52%) shop for Halloween-related items once a year, with equal proportions of Brits kickstarting their Halloween shopping either early October (22%) or mid-October (22%).
As for items typically purchased for Halloween, candy tops the list (67%), followed by pumpkins (56%) and decorations (53%). Women are more likely than men to shop for all the items listed in our survey, be it candy (71% vs. 62%), decorations (55% vs. 50%) or costume items (46% vs. 43%) - the only exception being party supplies where men take a marginal lead over women (21% vs. 18%).
Moving on to Halloween spend, YouGov data shows that more than a third of Brits (34%) make use of Halloween sales, discounts and promotions ‘sometimes’, while 21% of them do so ‘often’.
Equal proportions of Brits spend less than £15 (38%) and between £15 and £30 (38%) on costume items.
A majority of Brits prefer keeping spend on pumpkins (77%), candy (69%) and decorations (48%) under £15 as well. As for party supplies, less than a third (31%) typically spend less than £15, while more than a quarter spend either between £15 and £30 (28%) or between £31 and £50 (26%).
A majority of Britons (76%) prefer shopping for Halloween-related items at supermarkets like Tesco and ASDA - a preference most shared by 45-to-54-year-olds (84%), followed by 25-to-44-year-olds.
Nearly half of all Brits (48%) usually head to discount stores like Poundland and B&M. Britons aged 35-to-44-years (54%) and 45-to-54-years (53%) are most likely to head to discount stores for their Halloween shopping.
A little over two in five Brits (41%) opt for online retailers (at 52%, 25-to-34-year-olds are most likely to do so ), while over a quarter of all Brits (26%) shop for Halloween-related items at high street shop like Wilko and The Range (at 30% each, high street shops are most popular among 18-24-year-olds and 25-34-year-olds).
Speciality stores like Party Delights and Halloween stores have, comparatively, lesser takers among Brits (10%), but younger consumers are more likely to head here for their Halloween needs.
Also read: Halloween in the USA: Unravelling American shopping preferences, spending patterns
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online in October 2024, with a nationally/ representative sample of adults (aged 18+ years) in Great Britain, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, education and social grade to be representative of all adults in Great Britain (18 years or older) and reflect the latest ONS population estimates. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.
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