The word October stems from the Latin “octo”, meaning eight. Because the old Roman calendar started in March rather than January, October used to be the 8th month of the year. The biggest October holiday in the US and many other parts of the world is Halloween. Kids can’t wait to go trick-or-treating; parents adorn their homes and gardens with spooky decorations, and pumpkins of all colors and sizes have their time to shine. October is also a great time to start planning for the big November e-commerce events Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Let’s dive into what October has in store for online shoppers and retailers.

Halloween: October 31st

Did you know where the word “Halloween” comes from?
“Halloween” derives from the old English term “All Hallow’s Eve”, which over time got condensed to “Hallow’s E’en” and eventually “Halloween”.

Halloween has Celtic (Samhain), Roman (Feralia) and Christian (All Saint’s Day) influences. It originally marked the end of the harvest season. Today, Halloween is a big celebration, especially throughout the United States, Canada and Ireland.

People celebrate Halloween by wearing costumes, throwing parties and going door-to-door to collect candy (aka trick-or-treating).

Popular Halloween products include:

  • Candy: Supermarkets stock “fun size” chocolate bars and other tasty treats months before Halloween to prepare for trick-or-treaters on October 31st. Don’t forget about the festive candy buckets and bowls!
  • Costumes: While traditional Halloween costumes are spooky (witches, mummies, vampires with fake fangs and blood), modern Halloween costumes can be anything you like. You can also dress up as your favorite TV star (e.g., Queen Charlotte from Bridgerton) or movie character (Barbie or Jigsaw).
  • Home and garden décor: Think spider web lights and garlands, plastic skeletons and inflatable (and real) pumpkins: Halloween is the perfect time of year to let your imagination run wild when it comes to decorating!
  • Pumpkins: Even before the actual date, families and schools often host pumpkin carving events to awaken the Halloween spirit(s)…

Retailers’ creativity knows no limits this time of year.

Here are some little ways for online retailers to make Halloween that much more fun online:

  • Bedazzle your online store, for instance by swapping your usual “cart” or “shopping basket” for a “trick-or-treating bucket”.
  • Change your website banner in October, for instance, by switching to a dark design theme. It’ll make you stand out from the crowd and bring that Halloween vibe to life! This is especially great if you’re running Halloween promotions, giveaways or contests.
  • Inspire your audience with content around Halloween gift ideas or shopping lists. This will boost your online store’s SEO by driving traffic from Google to your website while incentivizing your consumers to buy from you.

In 2022, the average American household spent $100.45 during Halloween season. Households with children spend twice as much as those without. People go big on Halloween, so don’t be afraid to do the same with your e-commerce efforts.

Get ready for Black Friday & Cyber Monday in November

Following Christmas, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the largest e-commerce sales events of the year.

Dates to remember for 2023:

  • Black Friday: November 24th
  • Cyber Monday: November 27th

In the US, Black Friday fires off the end-of-year holiday shopping season, and it takes place the Friday after Thanksgiving (which is always the last Thursday in November). It’s not uncommon for shoppers to save items they want in their shopping baskets days or even weeks before Black Friday to hit the Buy button as soon as the sales kick off.

Cyber Monday came into existence as a Black Friday follow-up online sales opportunity. As the name suggests, Cyber Monday tends to be more about promoting tech and electronics.

Keep in mind that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are no longer limited to the United States. They’ve become quite the phenomenon worldwide: Germany, for instance, achieved a whopping €5.3 billion in turnover from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in 2021.

You can’t talk about Black Friday and Cyber Monday without mentioning online marketplaces such as Amazon, who take the biggest slice of the sales pie. In 2022, shoppers spent over $11.3 billion on the platform. Amazon said that the “2022 Thanksgiving weekend was its biggest holiday shopping weekend ever and that it sold ‘hundreds of millions’ of products […].”

Online retailers are advised to start planning their Cyber Week promotions early to make the most of its sales potential.

Conclusion

Halloween is October’s biggest shopping event. Being a widespread holiday, particularly across the United States, Canada and Ireland, consumers associate it with costumes, parties, spooky decorations and trick-or-treating. Halloween gives retailers an excellent opportunity to explore a range of marketing tactics to promote popular products in the lead-up to October 31st.

October is also the right time to prepare for the two big e-commerce events of November: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By now, Cyber Week has achieved global status and boasts record-breaking sales, especially on online marketplaces like Amazon.



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autor_eurotext_100Author: Eurotext Editorial Team

We explain how internationalization works, provide tips for your translation projects and outline some of the technology and processes used. We also report on current e-commerce developments and cover a range of language-related topics.