Halloween Spook-tacular: Seasonal Tips for RV Dealerships

Although not quite as popular as Thanksgiving and Christmas, Halloween remains a beloved holiday in the United States. Whether due to childhood nostalgia, the joy of seeing a child’s face light up during trick-or-treating or the thrill of a scary haunted house, people love this spooky season. Halloween is also a very lucrative holiday from a retail standpoint — according to the National Retail Federation’s annual consumer survey, consumers are expected to spend “a record $13.1 billion this year” on the holiday. The survey also indicated that “nearly three-quarters of consumers (73%) plan to celebrate the holiday, in line with last year’s 72%.”

While you probably don’t need to transform your dealership into a haunted house or add a costume section to your parts and accessories department, you could add a seasonal end cap with some fun Halloween-themed decorations, such as solar-powered lights or artificial carvable pumpkins. You could also offer printed out guides of fun autumn and/or Halloween-related road trips for your customers, something that can be personalized to your local area if there are relevant events and/or experiences.

Check out the links below for ideas on Halloween RVing, campground decorations & autumnal road trips.

• 13 of North America’s Most Haunted Spots — KOA provides a guide to a “bone-chilling” road trip.
• 21 Campgrounds Throwing Spooktacular Halloween Events — Campspot lists popular destinations across the U.S. for Halloween.
• Go RVing to These Punkin Chunkin Festivals — Go RVing offers a roundup of punkin chunkin festivals taking place across the country.
• Halloween Camping Ideas for Families — RVnGO presents a guide full of tips for places to go, fun activities and decorating ideas to make the holiday fun for the family.
• Easy Spooky RV Halloween Decorations You Can Make — RVtravel.com speaks to the DIYer with handmade Halloween decor, some of which you could even use in your dealership if you’re feeling crafty.
• 22 Festive and Frightening Ideas For Your Campsite — In addition to road trip planning, Go RVing has some creepy campsite decoration tips.
• 5 Tips To Celebrate Halloween in a Camper Van — IndieCampers provides advice for decorating your camper van and seasonal activities.

For advice on how to merchandise Halloween items at your dealership, check out Linda Cahan’s articles on smart product displays or seasonal merchandising.