As Halloween approaches next week, neighborhoods are lighting up with festive decorations and costumes in hopes of attracting trick-or-treaters.

However, when it comes to candy, shoppers seem to be taking their time. According to the latest Advantage Solutions Halloween pulse survey, Halloween shoppers typically hold off on their candy purchases until closer to the event in the hope of scoring last-minute deals. More specifically, some 70% of shoppers plan to buy candy within seven days of Halloween.

Additional insights from the Advantage Solutions blog post include:

• Sometimes the candy purchased doesn’t make it till Halloween, as consumers tend to snack on those sweet treats on hand—offering retailers a prime opportunity to boost sales.
• More than half of shoppers will buy candy multiple times throughout the Halloween season.
• Half of shoppers plan to spend $51 or more on candy, while 59% will spend that amount on food for Halloween this year, per the survey, up from just 21% and 29% last year, respectively. 

“Over the past four years, Halloween—like many other holidays—has proven to be a resilient investment for both retailers and consumers, even amid economic uncertainty,” says Kelly Ravestijn, senior vice president of commerce intelligence at Advantage Unified Commerce (AUC), a division of Advantage Solutions.

Related - Survey: Americans to spend more on Halloween candy this year