Have you noticed the scary number of Halloween pop-up stores that are mystically appearing in your local mall this year?
Halloween is big business!
This pagan ritual is growing. It's estimated that around 170 million people in the U.S. will celebrate All Hallows' Eve this year. This will beat the more than 157 million Americans that celebrated Halloween in 2015.
The recent National Retail Federation's annual survey highlighted that total spending for Halloween is expected to reach $8.4 billion, an all-time high in the survey's 11-year history. U.S. consumers are expected to spend an average of $82.93 on candy, costumes, decorations, and other items - up from last year's $74.34.
What tricks and treats top the list?
According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $3.1 billion on costumes (purchased by 67% of Halloween shoppers), $2.5 billion on candy (94.3%), $2.4 billion on decorations (70%), and $390 million on greeting cards (35.4%).
When it comes to preparation, 71% of consumers plan to hand out candy, decorate their home or yard (49%), dress in a costume (47%), carve a pumpkin (46%), throw or attend a party (34%), take their children trick-or-treating (30%), visit a haunted house (21%), or dress their pet(s) in a costume (16%).
Don't fear these supply chain challenges
Halloween will present myriad challenges for supply chain organizations, be it manufacturers, retailers, or third-party logistics providers. These include:
1. Meeting consumers' needs both online and in-store: Social media is the fastest-growing influencer for the perfect costume, particularly Pinterest (17%), which has seen 133% growth since 2012. Others find inspiration from Facebook (17%), friends/family (19%), and pop culture (16%), which all beat traditional print media (14%). Searching for the perfect witch, superhero, or ghoul costume will lead consumers to sources online (35%) as well as in-store (29%). Meeting your consumers' needs will likely require having both an Internet and physical presence of some sort.
2. Ensuring you have the proper amount of supplies: According to the National Confectioners Association, chocolate is people's favorite Halloween candy, followed closely by candy corn (more than 35 million pounds are produced each year). It's estimated that approximately 90 million pounds of chocolate flies off the shelves during the week leading up to Halloween. This is great news for the world's chocolate manufacturers, such as the Ferrero Group, which is using cutting-edge business software to sweeten its aggressive business goals. But imagine if there was a poor cocoa crop, a natural disaster, or a health scare like Ebola leading up to the big holiday season. That would be a true Halloween horror story for manufacturers, and it highlights the need for global supply chains to be more robust, with backup for critical suppliers.
3. Overcoming human asset nightmares: An estimated 800,000 seasonal workers will be hired this year, many in pop-up stores. With this comes the bone-chilling proposition of onboarding and training new staff. Your organization needs to have an answer for quickly getting these temporary employees up to speed. And be warned: Once the calendar turns to November, the Halloween pop-up stores will mysteriously disappear and soon transform into Christmas shops.
Make Halloween a scream for consumers
As folks prepare to go out trick-or-treating in places such as Bloody Springs, Mississippi, Dead Mans Crossing, Indiana, Death Valley, California, Devil Town, Ohio, Hell, Michigan, or even Satans Kingdom, Massachusetts, think of how your supply chain can best produce and deliver treats to all of the eager, little witches or warlocks out in the world.