SALT LAKE CITY — As Halloween draws near, Americans are getting excited to carve pumpkins, eat their favorite candies, decorate the house and find the perfect costumes for their family and pets.
Yes, we said pets.
According to a new Prosper Insights & Analytics survey, pet costumes continue to become more popular every year, with nearly 20 percent of celebrants planning to dress their pet this year compared to last year’s 16 percent.
“One of the biggest trends this year is the growth of spending on pet costumes,” Prosper Insights Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “Out of the 31.3 million Americans planning to dress their pets in costumes, millennials (25-34) are most likely to dress up their pets, the highest we have seen in the history of our surveys.”
AMERICA’S HALLOWEEN SPENDING
According to another survey conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF), last year Americans spent a total of $9.1 billion on Halloween products altogether.
This year, total Halloween spending is expected to reach at least $9 billion again, with $3.2 billion being spent on costumes alone.
“The economy is good and consumer confidence is high, so families are ready to spend on Halloween this year,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.
TOP PET COSTUMES
Animal lovers will be dressing up their pets for Halloween.
Eleven percent of pet owners will dress their animal in a pumpkin costume, 7 percent will dress their pet as a hot dog, 5 percent as a bumble bee and 3 percent as a devil.
A lion, Star Wars character, superhero, and ghost were also on the list at around 2 percent.
“The survey asked 6,961 consumers about Halloween shopping plans. It was conducted September 4-12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points,” Shay said.
We asked our followers on Facebook to comment pictures of their pets all dressed up.
Here are a few pictures they sent:
Michael Ross dressed Samwise and Lando up as true Pittsburgh Penguins fans. “It’s a great day for hockey!”
Amy Westover showed us Tesla, who is dressed as a purple people eater.
Amy also sent in Oscar who is an adorable dragon.
Dogs weren’t the only ones dressed up. Look at this pretty kitty dressed up as the Pope.
Pope’s friend Cardinal also joined in the Halloween fun thanks to Leisl Cope.
