Halloween and Book Week have been named the best occasions for selling dress-up product and costume accessories across the UK, reveals Progressive Party Europe’s most recent research into the UK party retail market.
According to the in-depth survey of UK party retailers, which ran again in 2017 for the eighth consecutive year, Halloween tops the list of key celebratory seasons for fancy dress and accessories, with the child-focused Book Week coming a close second.
Recent investment into the Book Week category has seen the occasion grow rapidly over the last few years, with majors giving the season a significant boost while independents make the most of their ability to help parents create their own, bespoke costumes so their children can go to school dressed as their favourite literary character – no matter how weird or wonderful.
Drilling down further into these results, respondents reported that on the whole, Book Week was the season which saw the most growth throughout 2017, with more than half of all retailers (52%) reporting an increase in sales.
Conversely – and despite driving more business through the tills than Book Week – last year’s Halloween was a difficult season in the end, with 67% of retailers reporting a decline in sales (although that figure also reflects business across decor, partyware and balloons).
Undoubtedly reflecting the increase in Book Week trade, the sale of children’s costumes increased for 24% of respondents across 2017, while adult costume sales decreased for over half of the retailers who responded (53%).
