Engagement levels for Halloween and Bonfire Night rose in 2024, with greater promotional activity from brands and retailers helping encourage shoppers, whether in or out of home, to get in the spirit of the event.
However, while engagement levels were high, fragile consumer confidence and rising inflation across key product categories curbed spending, resulting in reduced overall expenditure for Halloween and Bonfire Night. As consumer confidence improves and inflation continues to ease, demand is expected to rebound for 2025. Higher-income households, which drove spending for Halloween and Bonfire Night in 2024, are likely to remain key spenders, but continued financial recovery across middle-income households should boost spending for both events in 2025, particularly if retailers engage in the same level of promotional activity.
Retailers can capitalise on this momentum through entertainment-focused seasonal ranges for in-home celebrations. By aligning products with new film releases and popular TV shows, they can inspire consumers to elevate celebrations at home, driving further engagement. Offering film-themed products for at-home celebrations also allows retailers to extend the festive spirit beyond a single day. This creates a longer window to engage customers and capitalise on the celebratory mood with curated products.
This report looks at the following areas:
- The amount spent on Halloween and Bonfire Night products in 2024, analysis of how this compares to previous years, and the outlook for 2025.
- Products purchased for Halloween and Bonfire Night, as well as key new product development in 2024, and where retailers and brands can innovate next.
- How retailers can tap into trending film releases to enhance celebrations at home during Halloween and Bonfire Night.
- A focus on why facilitating self-expression will help boost spending in key product categories for Halloween and Bonfire Night.
- The opportunity to tap into other cultural celebrations around Halloween and Bonfire Night, and how this can help tackle consumers concerns around waste.
Halloween and Bonfire Night saw strong engagement in 2024, helped by greater promotion by retailers and brands and an overlap with other cultural events.
Emily Viberg, Retail analyst
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for Halloween and Bonfire Night
- Enhancing in-home celebrations: the opportunity for brands and retailers…
- …help make viewing experiences at home immersive
- Tapping into other cultural events can help tackle waste concerns and drive additional demand
- Leverage Halloween’s playful spirit to inspire new fashion choices…
- …make Halloween an all-year-round vibe…
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Halloween and Bonfire Night spending falls in 2024
- Graph 1: estimated consumer spending on Halloween and Bonfire Night products, 2022-24
- What consumers want and why
- Steady engagement levels for Halloween and Bonfire Night in 2024
- Graph 2: any purchasing for Halloween and Bonfire Night, 2020-24
- Spending for Halloween and Bonfire Night products declines in 2024
- Graph 3: average spent on Halloween and Bonfire Night products, 2020-24
- Popular Halloween and Bonfire Night activities are watching a scary film and going to a fireworks display
- Graph 4: Halloween and Bonfire Night activities, 2024
- New film releases on streaming services encourage celebrations at home
- Graph 5: attitudes towards Halloween and Bonfire Night, 2024
- Halloween and Bonfire Night are seen as a time to enjoy seasonal treats
- Graph 6: attitudes towards Halloween and Bonfire Night food and drink, 2024
- 52% of Halloween shoppers see it as the perfect time to try new fashion
- Graph 7: attitudes to costumes for Halloween, 2024
- Innovation and marketing
- Halloween NPD up 12.1% in 2024
- Graph 8: Halloween NPD, by super category, 2021-24
- Chocolate confectionery dominated Halloween NPD in 2024
- Graph 9: Halloween NPD, by sub-category, 2024
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market size
- Overview of Halloween and Bonfire Night 2024
- Halloween and Bonfire Night spending falls in 2024
- Graph 10: estimated consumer spending on Halloween products, 2022-24
- Graph 11: estimated consumer spending on Bonfire Night products, 2022-24
- Halloween 2024 faced challenges with fragile consumer confidence and inflation
- Halloween messaging focused on savings in 2024
- Fireworks and chocolates capture majority of Halloween spending in 2024
- Graph 12: estimated consumer spending on Halloween products, 2023-24
- Spending on Halloween fancy dress and cosmetics boosted by release of Beetlejuice sequel
- High chocolate prices fuel a cautious shopping mindset
- Price wars on pumpkins helped shoppers value spending – despite harvesting challenges
- Fireworks remain most popular product to buy for Bonfire Night in 2024
- Graph 13: estimated consumer spending on Bonfire Night products, 2023-24
- Demand holds up well for Bonfire Night products in 2024
- Outlook for Halloween and Bonfire Night 2025
- Market drivers
- Inflation rates drop significantly compared to a year ago…
- Graph 14: CPI inflation rate, 2021-24
- …but inflation remained high across key Halloween and Bonfire Night categories
- Graph 15: CPI inflation rate in October, 2023-24
- The cost-of-living crisis is still a concern for the majority
- Graph 16: perception of the state of the cost of living crisis in the UK, 2024
- Current financial wellbeing remains fragile…
- Graph 17: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-24
- Most describe their financial situation as unchanged
- Graph 18: “How does your own financial situation compare to how it was a year or so ago?”, by household income, November 2024
- …but consumer confidence for the year ahead is more positive
- Graph 19: the financial confidence index, 2016-24
- British society is increasingly diverse
- Graph 20: ethnicity of population, by age, 2021
- Soaring cocoa prices due to decline in global supply
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Products purchased for Halloween and Bonfire Night 2024
- Steady engagement levels for Halloween and Bonfire Night in 2024
- Graph 21: any purchase of products for Halloween and Bonfire Night, 2020-24
- Halloween boosted by coinciding Diwali celebrations in 2024
- Greater numbers of younger consumers buying into both events
- Graph 22: any Halloween purchasing, by age group, 2022-24
- Graph 23: any Bonfire Night purchasing, by age group, 2022-24
- Purchasing across key Halloween categories remains stable
- Graph 24: products purchased for Halloween, 2022-24
- Young families drive confectionery buying, spurred by trick-or-treating
- Younger Millennials lead cosmetics purchasing for Halloween
- Halloween decorations purchasing driven by higher income households
- Bonfire Night must-haves include sweets and chocolates
- Graph 25: products purchased for Bonfire Night, 2022-24
- Those aged 20-24 are most likely to buy fireworks
- Young families most likely to buy food to celebrate Bonfire Night at home
- Amount spent for Halloween and Bonfire Night in 2024
- Spending for Halloween and Bonfire Night products declines in 2024
- Graph 26: average spent on Halloween and Bonfire Night, 2020-24
- Retailers continue efforts on keeping prices low
- 25-34 year olds spend the most on Halloween products in 2024
- Bonfire Night spending driven by high earners
- Halloween and Bonfire night activities
- Popular Halloween and Bonfire Night activities are watching a scary film and going to a fireworks display
- Graph 27: Halloween and Bonfire Night activities, 2024
- 16-34s enjoy celebrating Halloween and Bonfire Night outside the home…
- Graph 28: Halloween and Bonfire Night activities, by age group, 2024
- …and are equally happy celebrating at home too…
- Graph 29: Halloween and Bonfire Night activities, by age, 2024
- Help younger adults combat concerns around Halloween and Bonfire Night waste at home
- Households with children more likely to reuse products from previous years
- Make Halloween a year-round vibe
- Halloween and Bonfire Night celebratory behaviours
- New film releases on streaming services encourage celebrations at home
- Help make celebrations at home immersive with themed seasonal ranges
- Retailers play into the Beetlejuice mania
- Tap into high-income households’ willingness to invest in elevated at-home celebrations
- Retailers lean into other cultural celebrations
- Other cultural celebrations appeal to families with young children
- Graph 30: “I participated in other cultural celebrations happening around the same time as Halloween/Bonfire night this year”, by parental status and age of children in the household, 2024
- Mattel launches the first Diwali Barbie doll
- Halloween and Bonfire Night food and drink behaviours
- Strong interest for healthier themed food
- Halloween and Bonfire Night are seen as a time to enjoy seasonal treats
- Tap into ‘treat yourself’ attitude at Halloween with ready-to-eat offers
- Free-from formats provide retailers with the chance to launch guilt-free treats
- Make free-from-artificial-colour claims easy to understand and access
- 25-34s enjoy a seasonal treat during Halloween and Bonfire Night
- Haribo and Gopuff makes treating oneself to Halloween sweets easy
- Halloween and Bonfire Night shopping behaviours
- Self-expression through fashion is an important element of Halloween
- Over half of Halloween and Bonfire Night shoppers see Halloween as a good time to experiment with fashion
- Younger shoppers use Halloween to experiment with fashion
- Tap into non-spooky themes in fancy dress to make Halloween dressing up timeless
- A need for retailers to help address safety concerns during Halloween and Bonfire Night celebrations
- Over half of Halloween and Bonfire Night shoppers aged 25-34 worried about their safety
- Families with young children interested in making Halloween costumes safer
- Graph 31: attitudes to safety at Halloween/Bonfire Night, by parental status and age of children, 2024
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- Halloween and Bonfire Night new product development and innovations
- Food remains the leading NPD category for Halloween launches in 2024
- Graph 32: Halloween NPD, by super category, 2021-24
- Surprise consumers with innovative and experience-driven product features
- Revolution Beauty led Halloween NPD in beauty in 2024
- New product launches in pet food continues
- M&S lead Halloween new product launches in 2024
- Graph 33: Halloween NPD, by ultimate company, 2024
- Chocolate confectionery dominated Halloween NPD in 2024
- Graph 34: Halloween NPD, by sub-category, 2024
- Cadbury reimagines the classic pumpkin patch
- HFSS restrictions to shape future Halloween chocolate launches
- Retailers can champion other confectionery categories
- Recyclable packaging lead Halloween NPD claims in 2024
- Graph 35: Halloween NPD, by claim, 2024
- Key new product launches for Halloween 2024
- Halloween treats with no artificial colouring appeal amid spotlight on UPFs
- Encourage people to treat themselves with premium and novel chocolates
- Halloween confectionary that tingles the senses
- Ramp up the gross factor on products
- Brands merge Christmas and Halloween trends
- Focus on limited edition confectionary to keep relevant
- Products that are great conversation starters
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Total advertising grew 19% in October 2024
- Graph 36: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising from all retailers in October, 2021-24
- Amazon leads advertising in October 2024
- Graph 37: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising by top 10 retailers in October, 2024
- TV the chosen channel for advertisers in October 2024
- Graph 38: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising in October, by media type, 2024
- New HFSS advertising rules to come in October 2025
- Key campaigns
- Matalan’s ‘Trick or Treat’ campaign
- M&M’s collaboration to terrify trick-or-treaters
- e.l.f. Skin’s ‘Divine Skintervention’ campaign
- Diwali advertising efforts by retailers in 2024
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Appendix
- Report scope and definitions
- Data sources
- Abbreviations and terms
- Methodology
- Consumer research methodology
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
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