Searches for Halloween spike as shoppers get spooky
Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Kiwi shoppers have been getting hyped up about Halloween.
Since the beginning of October, Trade Me has recorded hundreds of thousands of searches for Halloween items, from pumpkins to props and even cookie-cutters.
Trade Me spokesperson Millie Silvester said the website had seen more than 290,000 searches for costumes.
She said this year's most popular costume theme was the 80s era, with more than 4000 searches for it.
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Recent horror flick The Nun had also inspired costume ideas this year.
First Retail managing director Chris Wilkinson said while New Zealand had not yet embraced Halloween in the same way as the US, in recent years there had been increasing demand for it.
'It's easier to get people hyped up overseas. New Zealand customers are more considered and skeptical around general consumerism. In saying that, Halloween has become increasingly popular over the last decade due to the media and a change in culture,' Wilkinson said.
'Retail is always looking for ways to stimulate their engagement with consumers and create relevancy.'
Wilkinson said Halloween promotions had really taken off in England, with retailers creating special merchandise for the event as early as two months before October.
'[In New Zealand] Halloween isn't expected to really spike sales like it does in the UK because the retailers that embrace it here sell wide-ranging products. But in the UK we're seeing even luxury and premium brands like chocolate companies selling specialty items for the event.'