Shoppers Cut Back on Candy this Season

With Halloween tomorrow many shoppers will be making last minute holiday trips for costumes, candy, decorations, and cards. But, this year shoppers are not stocking up as much as last year, instead they may be cutting back when it comes to Halloween spending.

Candy is the second-largest expenditure category on Halloween, according to IBISWorld, most likely due to families preparing for the annual trick-or-treating tradition. While candy is expecting a 2.7 percent sales increase over 2012, this is hardly an increase at all compared to last year’s 12.3 percent increase in candy sales (IBISWorld, 2013 Halloween Release). A couple of factors come into play to help explain why Halloween candy is suffering this year. The first is an uncertain economic and political environment, which is expected to affect overall holiday spending and the second factor is the trend toward health awareness (IBISWorld, 2013 Halloween Release). More shoppers may be trading in some of their favorite traditional candies in favor of healthier treats.

It will be interesting to see what the verdict is after Halloween and those last minute trick-or-treating trips. What Halloween favorites are you not willing to forgo this season?

Source: IBISWorld.com |2013 Halloween Release

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