By Mark Fletcher

Copyright newsagencyblog

Halloween is a tiny season for newsagents yet for similar businesses in the US it is worth sometimes more than half the revenue value of Christmas.

Okay, the US has a bigger engagement with Halloween as a season. That’s no excuse. I know of newsagents in Australia who do thousands on Halloween related sales. This is a retail seasonal opportunity any newsagent can embrace.

In the US $12 billion is spent on decorations, costumes, candy, and greeting cards, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). It grows annually.

In Australia, the spend is reportedly around $450 million annually. According to The Australian Retailers Association, 20% of Aussies engage with the season.

Among retailers, especially newsagents, there is ignorance as to what engagement can look like. There is candy for sure, for kids out for that. There are costumes – an easy market for us. Then there is home decor for adults hosting Halloween parties. This home decor is a space in which our shops have had terrific success over the years.

You can choose to be at the discount variety any with cheap products, the mid level with a more thoughtful offering or at the high end with $1,000+ pieces. You can land where works best for you.

The thing is, most Aussie newsagents won’t land, most won’t be in the Halloween space, most will miss this opportunity.

I like Halloween in retail because it’s fun, financially successful and attracting new shoppers. In our Malvern shop on GlenferrieRoad our front window has people stopping. Plenty step in for a photo.

Now, the typical Malvern shopper is 70+, retired, conservative. They are not what you would think fits a typical Halloween shopper. The thing is, they love the display, get a smile from it and plenty bring others to show them.

This window placement of Halloween is getting the shop noticed by more people.

Our embrace of opportunities like this outside of what is traditional for newsagents is one reason we continue to enjoy double-digit growth in this business.

Any newsagent can embrace Halloween in the city or country, in the Main Street or in a shopping centre. Sure what we have done is a bit over the top. You don;t need to do this.

The keys with Halloween are to be bold, have fun and give shoppers an experience they will talk about.

I am certain that you could grow Halloween to be worth at least 50% of Christmas in your business.

Now if you do embrace Halloween, be sure to promote it outside the business.

This type of out of store marketing is vital to finding even more new shoppers.