Andrew “Drew” Michael, senior, has been going to his local store with his parents to buy his costume ever since he was five, as like many other students. But now, with the advent of online shopping, Michael now gets everything with only a couple clicks.

“When I was younger, (my parents and I) would always go to the store and buy candy and look at the costumes for Halloween,” Michael said. “But now that I can simply order all of this online from the comfort of my couch, I don’t really see the point of going out just to buy two things.”

As Halloween fast approaches, more and more money is put into this tradition every year. According to the National Retail Federation, national Halloween spending will hit record high of $9.1 billion this year, with the majority of that money traditionally going to consumer stores. However, those same companies that should be getting a revenue boost are closing down stores and filing for bankruptcy protection.

Leonardo “Leo” Zhou, sophomore, puts up decorations and hands out candy every year.

“I can understand parents wanting to go out and buy candy, pumpkins and other things like that simply to make sure they are still fresh, but for most of the other stuff, it’s quicker to just order it online,” Zhou, said. “For things like Halloween decorations, I would much rather just go on my computer over having to visit a store.”

Business teacher Bob Browning said that with how advanced internet shopping already is, physical stores simply can’t keep up.

“Traditionally, companies would use the holiday season to advertise their produce and have deals on many specific products to attract customers to their store, like candy during Halloween,” Browning said. “However, with sites like Amazon that can provide the same products at someone’s doorstep with a few clicks, even malls are struggling to attract customers during the holidays.”

There are still some benefits to visiting a store, though, as there may be some discrepancy with what customers want versus what they get.

“Especially for Halloween costumes, I would rather see what you are buying in

person,” Michael said. “Unless you are someone who buys everything two months in advance, you almost never have enough time to exchange something if it doesn’t fit you or it looks nothing like what you wanted.”

Zhou said, “It’s nice to have the option to go to a store or a mall and explore costumes, decorations, and I’m glad that it’s still an option, but with the ease of online shopping, I’m not sure how much longer stores are going to last.”