By Doug Desjardins
With its focus on costumes and décor, e-commerce doesn’t typically grab a big share of the Halloween retail market, but retailers are still finding ways to drive sales with online promotions.
Seasonal retailer Party City is taking a multi-pronged approach with its new online Halloween shopping guide. The online guide links to popular social sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, and provides users with several different options to help them choose a costume. 
The Digital Dressing Room allows users to upload their photo and try on costumes and accessories by clicking and dragging images of costumes onto their online photo. The Brew Your Costume option asks users to take a brief survey and submit their Facebook profile, which is then plugged into a computer program that provides a list of costumes that best match their personality. The Halloween Fashion Show option features models dressed in the most popular costumes of the year and the Trick-or-Tweet Challenge lets users compete for Party City gift cards in contests on Twitter.
Wal-Mart’s online promotion isn’t as elaborate but offers consumers a wide range of popular costumes at bargain prices. Its online Halloween Costume Rack shows dozens of different outfits priced between $10 and $45. Adding to the allure of its low prices is 97-cent shipping for most items.
Toys “R” Us launched its Halloween “Boo-Tique” sections in stores last month and is complementing its in-store promotion with a new online catalog that showcases its costumes and home decorations. Featured in the catalog are kids and adults dressed up in costumes carried at Toys “R” Us stores, along with accessories and a selection of costumes only available for purchase online.
“Toys “R” Us has unique insights into the characters that kids most want to transform into for Halloween, whether it’s Barbie or Iron Man or more classic themes like adorable animals and princesses,” said Karen Dodge, senior vice president and chief merchandising officer for Toys “R” Us.
Retailers are launching their ambitious online promotions to cash in on what is expected to be a boon year for Halloween sales - or at least a return to normalcy after a 17-percent decline in sales in 2009. A survey conducted by Lightspeed Online Research Inc. found that 35 percent of Halloween shoppers intend to make some purchases online. More than half of respondents (52 percent) said they plan to make their online purchases in early October, with 15 percent planning their buys for mid-October.
Overall, the National Retail Federation is predicting a 16 percent increase in Halloween sales this year, with the average consumer spending slightly more than $66. That's $10 more than the average spend in 2009.
Resources
Toys “R” Us Store Nationwide Introduce Halloween Boo-Tiques
Party City’s Virtual Costumes Engage and Guide 2010 Halloween Shoppers
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