The end of October brings us further into the fall season, which means Halloween is right around the corner. As you get set to buy your costume and chow down on some candy, check out some of the top industry headlines this week!
NRF: Halloween spending set to fall this year: More than 157 million Americans plan to celebrate Halloween in 2015, according to the NRF’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey conducted by Proper Insights & Analytics. Total spending for the season will reach $6.9 billion, dropping 7% from the $7.4 billion total in 2014.
The average Halloween shopper will spend $74.34 on costumes, candy and decorations, compared to $77.52 last year.
The top three adult costumes for Halloween will be a witch, an animal and a Batman character, while the top three children’s costumes will be a princess, a Batman character and an action/super hero.
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Retailers build innovation labs to stay ahead of industry trends: With retail operating at such a rapid pace, industry players cannot afford to fall behind their competitors when reacting to the latest trends. With this in mind, more retailers such as Lowe’s, Neiman Marcus, Westfield and CVS are building digital innovation labs. The way the labs are structured, retailers can learn to embrace change by finding out what works and doesn’t work for them. Designers and engineers can test out concepts internally before releasing them in their stores and online.
The fashion world gets “Decoded” in New York City: To succeed in the fashion world today, retailers and brands need to tap into the latest disruptive technology serving as the backbone to the production, sales and marketing of these products.
Industry game changers such as DKNY, Rebecca Minkoff, Perry Ellis International and Under Armour lead a who’s who of speakers and panelists presenting at the Decoded Fashion New York Summit, Oct. 28-29 in New York City. The first day of the event included a product release from footwear and apparel discovery platform True Fit, as well as the launch of the CLO Virtual Fashion brand.
REI’s decision to #OptOutside brings new take to Black Friday: Many retailers have made headlines over the past few years for opening their brick-and-mortar stores on Thanksgiving. While the merits of these decisions can be debated, REI made the decision to close all of its stores on Black Friday to encourage shoppers to spend more time outside.
REI is focusing its efforts on the #OptOutside social campaign. I am looking forward to seeing the results of the campaign, and I will be curious to see whether any other retailers follow suit.
From the RTP team to you, enjoy your Halloween weekend!
What are your Halloween plans? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
