Cover of We Traded Family Dinners for Haunted Houses: Halloween Spending Data Shows Shoppers Want to Escape

We Traded Family Dinners for Haunted Houses: Halloween Spending Data Shows Shoppers Want to Escape

We Traded Family Dinners for Haunted Houses: Halloween Spending Data Shows Shoppers Want to Escape

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Halloween is now America’s second-largest consumer holiday, surpassing Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day in total spend, especially in categories like home decor. From the high street, the UK is catching up fast due to the rise of community-driven events, third spaces, and niche internet communities.Melissa Minkow, Global Director of Retail Strategy & Insights at CI&T, joins Phillip and Alicia from London to share what Halloween looks like on the other side of the Atlantic. Melissa explains why UK Halloween is getting “Americanized,” how algorithms shape our real-world rituals, and why fandom keeps stretching the season.Spooky Season Goes GlobalKey takeaways:UK Halloween spend is expected to hit £705M, driven mostly by Gen Z and millennials. Meanwhile, US Halloween spend is projected to reach $13.5B, with households spending an average of $285. UK Halloween isn’t a carbon copy of America’s. In the UK, community lives in third spaces like pubs and transit, not front porches.The retail calendar is stretching earlier, largely driven by fandoms inflating moments into months of licensing, drops, and ticketed events.“People want the moment when it is the moment.” — Melissa Minkow“There’s no temperance in the algorithm.” — Phillip Jackson“I have often wondered… if I ever was actually a sneakerhead or if performance marketing and algorithms made me one.” — Phillip JacksonIn-Show Mentions:Catch up on Ep. 484: Aubrey Horowitz of Home Depot, “We Plan Halloween 3 Years in Advance”Deloitte’s 2026 Halloween surveyTreatonomics: Morning Consult x Hershey’s research on the new Halloween calendarChanté Joseph, “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?” (Vogue)Kate Berlant on Good HangShoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance CapitalismGet tickets to VISIONS Summit, February 10, 2027 at MoMAAssociated Links:Spooky Commerce: What Halloween Shopping Trends Tell Us About Modern CultureConsumers are Overindulging on Halloween. Disney is Meeting the Moment.Aug-tober is Here (The Senses)Memory Morphing: How Media Reshapes Recall and Taints Nostalgia (Ep. 334)Where Were You When the Monoculture Returned?Check out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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