Asda has played an integral part in bringing Halloween to the UK, with its range growing by more than a third (32%) in the last six years.
The demand for pumpkins, costumes and decorations are increasing year on year as the UK grows out of the simple ‘trick or treat’ trend and towards a more American approach. With that change in consumer demand, the Halloween team at Asda has been reaching out to its owner, Walmart, to take advantage of its global insight to ensure it remains the market leader.
Nick Jones, Managing Director George and GM, at Asda, said: “We are learning from the experts and tapping into the breadth of knowledge and experience our colleagues in Walmart have, to ensure our Halloween experience is the best in the market.
“We believe we were the first UK retailer to recognise the pulling power of Halloween and we have access to a resource not available to most of our competitors. We are able to understand what works and doesn’t work in the US, and around the world, adapting those trends for our customers and it’s encouraging to see the year on year growth we are experiencing.”
Costumes and make up are amongst the popular products sold, with both seeing an increase in stock volumes for 2016, and Halloween party products have risen by almost a quarter (23%) compared with 2015.
Last year’s emerging trend was pet costumes, with 25 costumes available for our furry friends, and in 2016 it’s a ‘Twisted Carnival’, a décor range that helps customers transform their homes for the spooky season.
Nick said: “Customers expect new and exciting products each year. Decorations for the home continue to grow in popularity and one of our most popular products this year has been the Projection Light, which has been a massive hit with our customers.
“Customer feedback around Halloween is vital – we are getting so many positive comments about our range instore and on social media so we are really confident that we have produced another strong Halloween season at Asda.”