Table of Contents
Overview
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- What you need to know
- Products covered in this Report
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Back-to-school worth almost £1 billion
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- Figure 1: Estimated autumn/winter seasonal events market size (Including VAT), 2017
- August sales boosted by inflation on back-to-school items
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- Figure 2: CPIH annual percentage change, for back-to-school categories, August 2016 and August 2017
- Black Friday encourages November online sales
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- Figure 3: Online share of all retail sales, monthly, 2016-17
- Companies and brands
- Increase in Halloween in-store experiences
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- Figure 4: Budweiser King of Fears shop, 2017
- Cut-price supermarket party ideas
- Advertising expenditure increases in August and September
- The consumer
- Nine in ten make back-to-school purchase
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- Figure 5: Products purchased for the start of the school term in autumn 2017, September 2017
- Supermarkets remain popular for back-to-school purchasing
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- Figure 6: Types of retailers used for purchasing items at the start of the autumn 2017 school term, September 2017
- Parents care most about product quality
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- Figure 7: Improvement wanted for back-to-school items, September 2017
- Parents of young children biggest-spending group for Halloween
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- Figure 8: Spend on Halloween and Bonfire Night, November 2017
- Amazon and supermarkets most popular for Halloween and Bonfire Night
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- Figure 9: Retailers purchased from for Halloween and Bonfire Night, November 2017
- Value for money leading purchasing factor
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- Figure 10: Purchase drivers for Halloween and Bonfire Night retailers, November 2017
- People keen to recycle Halloween items
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- Figure 11: Behaviours towards Halloween, November 2017
- Most enjoy attending a Bonfire Night celebration
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- Figure 12: Behaviours towards Bonfire Night, November 2017
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Other key festivals present opportunity
- The facts
- The implications
- Room for a more sustainable approach to seasonal events
- The facts
- The implications
- Missing opportunities in Bonfire Night
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Back-to-school now worth almost £1 billion
- Halloween and Bonfire Night remain smallest seasonal events
- Autumn takes largest share of retail sales
- Back-to-school boosts August sales
- Black Friday encourages November online sales
- November and December have similar value of online retail sales
- Health and Beauty, as well as Food specialists had a good Christmas
Market Size and Segmentation
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- Uniforms drive back-to-school market growth
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- Figure 13: Estimated autumn/winter seasonal events market size (including VAT), 2017
- Figure 14: Estimated breakdown of retail sales by products purchased for back-to-school, 2017
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- Figure 15: Estimated breakdown of retail sales by products purchased for back-to-school (including VAT), 2017
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- Figure 16: Estimated breakdown of retail sales by products purchased for Halloween and Bonfire Night, 2017
- Figure 17: Estimated breakdown of retail sales by products purchased for Halloween and Bonfire Night (including VAT), 2017
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- Figure 18: What extra money is spent on, June 2017-February 2018
Retail Sales across the Year
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- Autumn continues to dominate share of retail sales
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- Figure 19: Percentage of retail sales (excluding fuel) at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by season, 2016 and 2017
- Figure 20: Value of retail sales (excluding fuel) at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by season, 2017
- Retail sales concentrated towards the end of the year
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- Figure 21: Value of all retail sales (excluding fuel) at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by month, 2016 and 2017
- Non-store retailing increases share of market over autumn period
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- Figure 22: Percentage of retail sales (excluding fuel) at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by sector, 2017
- Figure 23: Value of retail sales (excluding fuel) at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by sector, 2017
- Growth in retail sales by month
- April sees strongest growth
- Back-to-school helps to boost August sales…
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- Figure 24: CPIH annual percentage change, for back-to-school categories, August 2016 and August 2017
- …while Halloween fails to have an effect on disappointing October sales
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- Figure 25: Year-on-year percentage change in all retail sales (excluding fuel) at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by month, 2017
- Electrical sector sees defined seasonal trends
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- Figure 26: Annual percentage change in leading category retail sales at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by month, 2017
Online Retail Sales across the Year
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- Online share of sales peaks for Black Friday
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- Figure 27: Online share of all retail sales, monthly, 2016-17
- November becomes as important as December for online
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- Figure 28: Value of all online retail sales at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by month, 2016 and 2017
- Online growth peaks in first half of the year
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- Figure 29: Annual percentage change in all online retail sales at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, by month, 2017
- Clothing and footwear is strongest online performer
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- Figure 30: Online retail sales as a percentage of all retail sales, by category, monthly, 2016 and 2017
Black Friday and Christmas
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- Black Friday sales reached £4.2 billion in 2017
- Sales over the Christmas period rose 4.5%
Companies and Brands – What You Need to Know
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- Marks & Spencer launches school footwear service
- Gender-neutral uniforms
- Topshop and Topman ‘Stranger Things’ Halloween collaboration
- Cut-price Halloween party ideas
- Advertising expenditure increases in August and September
- Asda links with Shazam for Halloween campaign
Launch Activity and Innovation
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- Back-to-school
- Marks & Spencer launches kids’ footwear fitting advice service
- Gender-neutral school uniforms
- Emoji and Selfridges team up for back-to-school initiative
- Halloween
- Pop-up dress up shops
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- Figure 31: Budweiser King of Fears shop, 2017
- Topshop Halloween Stranger Things collaboration
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- Figure 32: Topshop and Topman’s Stranger Things display at flagship store, 2017
- Halloween makeovers
- Supermarket party ideas
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- Figure 33: Tesco online Halloween promotions, 2017
- Other events
- Hotel Chocolat Eid gifts
Advertising and Marketing Activity
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- Back-to-school helps to boost August expenditure
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- Figure 34: Recorded advertising expenditure by all retailers, by month, 2016 and 2017
- Share of advertising spend in autumn and winter months decreases
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- Figure 35: Recorded advertising expenditure by all retailers, by seasons, as % of total spending, 2016 and 2017
- Overall spend for 2017 is on the up
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- Figure 36: Recorded advertising expenditure by all retailers, by month, 2016 and 2017
- Television remains the most important advertising medium
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- Figure 37: Recorded advertising expenditure by all retailers, by media type, as % of total spending, 2016 and 2017
- Figure 38: Recorded advertising expenditure by all retailers, by media type, 2015-17
- Halloween campaigns
- Asda-Shazam lip sync tie-up
- Aldi Family
- Have a scream this Halloween with Wilko
- Back-to-school
- George’s ‘Strong Clothes for Strong Kids’
- Marks & Spencer’s #SpendItWell
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- School uniform drives spend
- Discounters not widely used for back-to-school
- Product quality of top importance
- More money spent on Halloween than Bonfire Night
- Dads spend more on Bonfire Night
- Physical retail most popular way of purchasing for seasonal events
- Millennials interested in experiences
- People want to reuse Halloween items
Purchasing for Back-to-school
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- Nine in ten purchased back-to-school items before the start of school
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- Figure 39: Products purchased for the start of the school term in autumn 2017, September 2017
- School uniform most popular item
- Rising spend on uniforms puts pressure on low-income families
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- Figure 40: Amount spent on products purchased for the start of the school term, September 2017
- Variety of items purchased
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- Figure 41: Repertoire of products purchased for the start of the school term in autumn 2017, September 2017
- Dads are more likely to purchase items last minute
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- Figure 42: How far in advance products are purchased for the start of the school term in autumn 2017, by gender, September 2017
Where Back-to-school Items are Purchased
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- Online retailing gaining importance
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- Figure 43: Channels used to purchase back-to-school items in autumn 2017, September 2017
- Supermarkets most popular for school items
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- Figure 44: Types of retailers used for purchasing items at the start of the autumn 2017 school term, September 2017
- Discounters not widely used
- Age has a low impact on retailer choice
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- Figure 45: Types of retailers used for purchasing items at the start of the autumn 2017 school term, by age of children, September 2017
Factors for Improvement – Back-to-school
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- Product quality is most important factor for parents
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- Figure 46: Improvement wanted for Back-to-school items, September 2017
- Improvements in sizing wanted
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- Figure 47: M&S school uniform size and fit guide, 2018
Purchasing for Halloween and Bonfire Night
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- More spent on Halloween
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- Figure 48: Spend on Halloween and Bonfire Night, November 2017
- Parents of young children biggest-spending group
- Young Millennials spend on Halloween
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- Figure 49: Spending on Halloween and Bonfire Night, by generation, November 2017
- Dads outspend mums on Bonfire Night
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- Figure 50: Amount spent on Bonfire Night products, mothers vs fathers, November 2017
- Opportunities for more spending occasions
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- Figure 51: Repertoire of expenditure for Halloween and Bonfire Night, November 2017
- Figure 52: Halloween multibuy offers at Iceland, 2017
Retailers Purchased From – Halloween and Bonfire Night
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- Physical retail still most popular way of purchasing for events
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- Figure 53: Channels used to shop for Halloween and Bonfire Night products, November 2017
- Supermarkets take most of the spend
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- Figure 54: Types of retailers purchased from for Halloween and Bonfire Night, November 2017
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- Figure 55: Ocado Bonfire Night food promotions, 2017
- Amazon popular for Halloween products
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- Figure 56: Retailers purchased from for Halloween and Bonfire Night, November 2017
- People unlikely to shop around for purchases
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- Figure 57: Repertoire of retailers used for Halloween and Bonfire Night, November 2017
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- Figure 58: Boohoo Halloween inspiration, 2017
Purchase Drivers for Halloween and Bonfire Night
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- Value for money most important factor
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- Figure 59: Purchase drivers for Halloween and Bonfire Night retailers, November 2017
- Experiences and visual displays more appealing to younger consumers
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- Figure 60: Purchase drivers for Halloween and Bonfire Night retailers, by age, November 2017
Shopper Behaviour – Halloween and Bonfire Night
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- Consumers would like to reuse Halloween items
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- Figure 61: Behaviours towards Halloween, November 2017
- Men more likely to make last-minute Halloween purchases
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- Figure 62: Seasonal shopping behaviours – CHAID – Tree output, November 2017
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- Figure 63: Seasonal shopping behaviours – CHAID – Table output, Halloween, November 2017
- Figure 64: Seasonal shopping behaviours – CHAID – Table output, Bonfire Night, November 2017
- Methodology
- Weekend helps drive celebrations
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- Figure 65: Behaviours towards Bonfire Night, November 2017
- Celebrations come with safety concerns
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Abbreviations
- Consumer research methodology
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