Why are Halloween decorations already on display?
MINNEAPOLIS — The seasonal display at Michaels would have you thinking it's a crisp fall day in early October, but we haven't even snagged a Pronto Pup at the Minnesota State Fair yet.
Proclaiming it as "Summerween", the store stocked its shelves with spooky decor in late July. That's like seeing Christmas trees on display in mid-September.
"I think it should be Halloween all the time basically," said Adrianna Brown.
"If you like Halloween that much, move to New Orleans. You can celebrate year-round," joked Shawn Daly.
Home Depot started selling its Halloween decorations online in April thanks to high demand, but physical stores won't start stocking shelves until around Labor Day.
Halloween isn't the only special shopping season getting an early start. Back-to-school items are now popping up around the Fourth of July. Black Friday sales are hitting email inboxes weeks in advance.
"The sooner you get it out, the sooner you get to selling it," said shopper Farin Smith.
George John, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota, said retailers are motivated to be first with their promotions.
"The average retailer knows everything about us. What we bought last time, what we plan to buy next time. And when you shop online, they have an absolute history of what you bought," said John.
That data leads to targeted promotions, often when a competitor might not have one.
"Each of these guys is trying to get a jump on the next guy because they all know if you do it, meaning run a promotion, and I don't, my sales die," John said.
"Bottom line, they want to make the money before other companies," added Daly.
On top of that, John says retailers have struggled in general with sales in the past year, leaving them trying to find unique reasons to get you into their stores to shop. Simply put, if customers won't buy what they've been selling in the past months, maybe they'll spend money on Halloween decorations instead.
Are the deals and discounts better when the shopping season starts earlier? John said some deals are better, but some are not. "They're very good at trying to give you the best deals on the things that will entice you to buy other things from them," he said.
If a deal fits your price range, John said to take advantage of it.
Halloween lover Molly Nelson said she typically waits until after the holiday to find good deals.
"But if I saw something super cool, I would buy it regardless of the time of year," she said.
How does seeing a product on display that we didn't expect influence a shopper? John said it influences them more than we might think.
"A deal is a deal when you know enough about it. If you don't know enough about it, novelty matters, how cool it is matters," he said.
Just stay disciplined with your spending or else that spooky display might cast a spell on your wallet.
