The number of searches in a single week reached nearly 8 million, and the popularity of Halloween products soared

As Halloween approaches, the popularity of related products and search terms has gradually increased. Pinduoduo sold over a thousand Halloween-style small accessories, and then related retailers released sales trends, which seems to be a preheating.

The early pace has also increased the tension among sellers, and many platforms will launch a new round of promotions to seize traffic.

Halloween-related products and search terms are on the rise

As October approaches , the peak season is getting closer. I don’t know whether the sellers are keeping a low profile or are planning conservatively this year, but everyone’s expectations for the peak season are still rising slowly. Some logistics companies said, “Will the peak season be prosperous this year? The shipment volume has dropped too much compared to the past.” Some sellers on European and American sites also said that their orders have dropped sharply recently, and some holiday products have been cleared out.

However, many sellers have found that the search volume for products and keywords related to Halloween and Christmas has increased recently. In the past week, the number of searches for the term "Halloween" on Google was close to 8 million . In this regard, sellers believe that it may be that foreign consumers are planning to shop in advance, and the peak season may also arrive early.

From the search trend, the most searched terms on Google Trends are " Halloween decorations, Halloween costumes, Christmas decorations, children's Christmas costumes ", etc. Searching on Amazon and Walmart, we can find that the sales of related products such as "Halloween bat decorations, LED color-changing lights, spider web decorations" are now as low as over a thousand and as high as over ten thousand , and most of the decoration products are priced at only a dozen dollars, and are still on sale.

Some consumers have reported that they have started to buy Halloween-related small items. In addition to Amazon, they now also go to Temu to look for similar products. "Compare prices from three different stores before placing an order. You can buy more than a dozen products for less than $30, which is quite cost-effective," the buyer said.

Data shows that the average daily number of Halloween-related searches exceeded 120,000 in October 2021. As buyers continue to remain enthusiastic about online shopping this year, many industry insiders expect that this figure will be broken.

Meanwhile, the largest Halloween retailer in North America recently released this year's main sales trends: witches, clowns, horror costumes and cartoon characters are all its sales focus . The retailer's consumer groups include not only adults, but also children and infants. For this year's Halloween, the retailer said that they will open a record 1,450 stores for sales this year.

Regarding expectations for this year's peak season, most sellers said: "Increased sales would be best, but stability is the most important." Some sellers also said that they tried to increase sales last year by making a small number of Halloween and Christmas products, but they were not well received due to style issues and sales were poor. However, the overall sales of other clothing and decorations were good.

"It is still necessary to combine classic elements with this year's hot trends to sell, otherwise it is hard to say how much sales will be." The seller said. Another seller said: "The relevant goods have been shipped out, and there should be a small increase in sales." Some sellers said that they have some Halloween goods on hold, and now they have to get up every night to refresh and check the order, which is quite stressful.

Compared with last year, although the epidemic has been relatively controlled, due to inflation, foreign consumers have experienced consumption downgrades, which has reduced the number of sellers' orders to a certain extent, among which small sellers have been hit more significantly. However, consumption downgrades have not stopped buyers' enthusiasm for online shopping. Foreign consumers will still shop online during the peak season and plan to shop in advance as they did last year.

According to a report released by eBay, British consumers will focus on high-cost-effective and practical products during Christmas this year, and one-third of consumers plan to start shopping for Christmas products earlier than last year. The early shopping season may allow sellers to see an increase in orders earlier.

The shopping season has come early, and many e-commerce platforms have launched a new round of promotions

Affected by the general environment in the past two years, not only consumers have started to shop in advance, but many retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target have also launched a new round of promotional activities in advance to increase sales and attract traffic. Judging from the performance of early promotions in previous years, it does help them increase sales.

Currently, judging from the dynamics of various retailers, Walmart and Target have begun to promote their respective holiday sales . Last week , Walmart announced that they will offer more new brands and more Walmart exclusive and promotional products this year compared to 2021 to help buyers save money. The company said that more than half of Walmart customers will start their holiday shopping plans in October , and the company is ready.

Also last week, Target announced that its first-ever holiday sales event will begin on Oct. 6 and run through Oct. 8, a few days earlier than last year. Target also said it would extend promotional pricing on some products from Oct. 6 to Dec. 24. The company said its shoppers will get "the earliest-ever deep holiday savings on must-have items and everyday essentials."

Wish platform also released a message to remind sellers: the holiday season is coming. According to past experience, Wish platform will usher in a peak of consumer purchases throughout the fourth quarter. In November, most merchants will have a significant increase in orders ...

It is worth noting that Amazon, which only holds Prime Day once a year, has also announced that it will launch an early access day for members next month. It can be seen that the competition between various platforms has quietly started during this year's peak season. However, according to the data predicted by relevant institutions, one fact that sellers may face this year is that the growth rate of retail sales during the holiday period will slow down.

Deloitte predicts that retail spending growth will slow during the 2022 holiday season , as rising prices and costs will continue to affect consumer budgets. Retail sales growth from November this year to January next year is expected to be between 4% and 6% , a significant drop from the 15.1% growth rate last year . Inflation is also likely to cause retailers' sales to decline.

Many domestic sellers were not surprised by this, saying: "The general trend can be estimated from the order volume and shipment volume in the first half of this year. Although the shipping cost dropped in the second half of the year, which reduced the cost, a lot of goods had already been shipped out, and the expenses were still high. Advertising expenses were also soaring... But there is still hope to make a comeback during the peak season."

"After the situation in the first half of the year, there should not be many sellers who are rushing to stock up large quantities of goods and produce new products during the peak season. This year, many small and medium-sized sellers are more on the sidelines and making their last-ditch efforts during the peak season. Those that are expected to have huge sales will still have huge sales." A seller added.