For major retailers, fall has become its own unique shopping season. This year’s fall-themed products include pumpkin samosas from Trader Joe’s and candles from Aldi. These products fill a gap in the traditional retail sales calendar, one market expert said.
Thank you for registering!
Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed on the go. Download the app
By clicking “Sign Up”, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You can opt-out at any time by visiting our settings page or by clicking “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the email.
Autumn has arrived in the United States. Fall is more than just a season, it’s also a shopping event.
Starbucks’ pumpkin spice-flavored drinks have been a fall staple since PSL was introduced in 2003, but multiple retailers are now offering a wide selection of other fall-themed items. . Depending on where you shop, you can find decorations, candles, and samosas in fall flavors and colors.
This season used to be a relatively slow time for retailers, with no major sales to push shoppers to spend more in stores. That has changed recently. Halloween sales have been on the rise in recent years, according to data from the National Retail Federation. Retailers are also adding early holiday shopping events, such as Amazon’s Prime Day, some of which began the first week of October.
More broadly, fall-themed products are another way for retailers and brands to fill out sales schedules, said Ronald Hill, a marketing professor at American University’s Kogod School of Business.
“It’s somewhere between what you can do in the summer and what you can do on vacation,” Hill told Business Insider in an interview. “By adding a new twist to the calendar and changing the seasons, you can attract people.”
Target’s fall selection this year includes about 650 new food items, including 150 items from Target store brands, the company’s chief commercial officer Rick Gomez said on an August earnings call. . Products include glazed pumpkin spice donut holes and jack-o-lantern-shaped sandwich cookies, both sold under Target’s Favorite Day brand. “We know consumers are eager for apple and pumpkin spice favorites,” Gomez said.
Related articles
According to the Trader Joe’s website, Trader Joe’s offers 148 items tailored to fall flavors and themes, from Mini Spicy Pumpkin Samosas to Pumpkin Body Scrubs.
It’s not just the food. Lowe’s, which offers products such as fall harvest decorations and Halloween lawn inflatables, is “bigger than ever,” Bill Boltz, executive vice president of merchandising, said in August. Ta. Home Depot’s giant skeleton was such a hit in 2020 that it sold out before October. On the company’s website, the $299 12-foot Skelly is currently out of stock, but customers can still purchase the 7-foot Skerries Dog for $199.
Last month, a Facebook page dedicated to discount grocer Aldi posted photos of shoppers holding the chain’s seasonal candles, which come in scents such as Autumn Lakeside Lodge and Pumpkin S’mores.
It’s not clear how much all the fall-themed merchandise sales are worth. But sales of pumpkin spice products alone reached about $802 million in the 12 months ending July 2023, according to NielsenIQ.
Hill, a professor at American University, said pumpkin spice and other flavors commonly found in fall products remind many consumers of farm stands, pumpkin patches and other rural attractions at this time of year. Retailers “are trading on the idea that if you want something natural in the world, you can come to us,” Hill said.
“You don’t even know if it has pumpkin in it or pumpkin flavor, but it sparks the imagination that you’re eating a fresh product,” he said.
