Canadians with kids will spend an average of $75 on Halloween

TORONTO, Oct. 10, 2012 /CNW/ - Canadian households with children plan to spend an average of $75 on Halloween purchases, according to Harris/Decima polling done for Retail Council of Canada (RCC).

The nation-wide poll of the 1004 Canadians found that three-quarters intend to spend about the same amount as they did last year on the ghoulish holiday. The poll has a margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

"Consumer confidence is holding steady, which is a good sign for retailers," said Diane J. Brisebois, President & CEO of RCC. "Halloween is the third most important retail season of the year, after Christmas and Back to School."

The poll found that the more people living in a household, the greater the propensity to spend more money on Halloween. Whereas single-person households intend to spend an average of $24, larger households with 3 people or 4+ people intend to spend, on average, $66 and $75 respectively.

Other highlights of the poll:

• Younger Canadians (18 to 24) are more likely than nearly all others to say they will spend more this year than they did last year.
• Fully half who plan to spend on Halloween say that 75 to 100 per cent of their budget will go towards candy.
• Quebec residents are more likely to spend more of their Halloween budget on costumes than BC residents.
• Quebec residents are also more likely than residents of Manitoba/Saskatchewan, Ontario, and BC to spend more on Halloween home décor.

"Halloween is a big event in many households for both adults and children," said Brisebois.  "Parents dress up their kids, their houses, their pumpkins and their pets and allow their kids to go candy crazy for a few hours. But it's not just parents - Halloween is the time of year when adults have their own dress-up parties. Retailers know this is a highly anticipated holiday for many and are busy keeping shelves stocked with items for consumers of all ages."

About Retail Council of Canada:
Retail Council of Canada (www.retailcouncil.org) is the Voice of Retail. Founded in 1963, RCC is a not-for-profit association which represents more than 45,000 stores of all retail formats, including department, grocery, independent merchants, regional and national specialty chains, and online merchants. We speak for an industry that touches the daily lives of Canadians in every corner of the country - by providing jobs, career opportunities, and by investing in communities.

About the Harris/Decima Poll:
Data were collected by phone from September 20^th through September 23^rd 2012. A total of 1,004 completed surveys were conducted with a margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20. The data were weighted to be reflective of the Canadian general population (age/gender by region) based on the 2006 Canadian Census.

SOURCE: Retail Council of Canada