Halloween emails for Shopify stores
Halloween 2026 is Saturday, October 31. Email ideas that fit your brand, subject lines, a send timeline, and how to use Halloween without a discount.
Dates
Halloween is a natural sales moment for costume, beauty, party, candy and pet stores, and a fun hook for everyone else. It also sits four weeks before Black Friday, so it's a good moment to start building your early-access list.
The National Retail Federation expects US Halloween spending to reach $13.5 billion this year, with 74% planning to celebrate (NRF). The average shopper expects to spend $115.14 (NRF). Shoppers start early: about half (49%) say they plan to begin shopping in September or earlier (NRF). By mid-October your email is reaching people who are finishing, not starting.
A Saturday Halloween, as in 2026, means parties on the night itself and on Friday, October 30, 2026. Plan your last delivery date for the Tuesday or Wednesday before, not the Friday.
| Dates | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halloween | Sat Oct 31 | Sun Oct 31 | Tue Oct 31 |
| Black Friday | Fri Nov 27 | Fri Nov 26 | Fri Nov 24 |
| Days from Halloween to Black Friday | 27 | 26 | 24 |
Send timeline
| Send timeline | Send |
|---|---|
| ~2 weeks before | Ideas and products, with delivery dates |
| ~1 week before | Last order date for delivery by Halloween |
| Day of | Light, fun note, plus a link to your Black Friday early-access list |
Subject lines
For beauty and skincare
For pet stores
For food, candy and party
For any store
After the day
- Nothing scary in here
- The ingredient list, with nothing to hide
- A costume for the dog, obviously
- For pets who'd rather skip the doorbell
- Treats, no tricks
- The party box, ready to open
- Last day to order for Halloween delivery
- The spookiest thing in our shop is how fast this sells out
- Halloween's done. Black Friday is next, want in early?
- You survived Halloween. Want first pick in November?
Three email outlines
1. Ideas and products (two weeks before). A theme in the subject line. Four products, each with one line on how it's used on the night. Delivery dates at the bottom.
2. Last order date (a week before). The date in the subject line and the first line. Three products that ship fastest. One button. Nothing else.
3. The day itself. Short and light. One photo, one joke if it fits your brand, and an invitation: "Black Friday is four weeks away. Want first pick?" A sign-up button for the early-access list.
What not to do
- Don't force it. A Halloween pun on an unrelated product can read as filler.
- Don't use imagery that's genuinely frightening in an email that lands in someone's inbox at breakfast.
- Don't send the delivery-date email after the date has passed for most of your customers. Check your slowest shipping zone first.
Questions people ask
When is Halloween 2026?
Saturday, October 31, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Sunday, October 31, 2027 and in 2028 on Tuesday, October 31, 2028.
Should every store send a Halloween email?
Only if it fits. Costume, candy, party, pet and beauty stores have a natural reason. Other stores can use a light Halloween hook in a regular email instead of a sale.
Is it too late to start Halloween emails in October?
Not for an email, but many shoppers have already started. Lead with what still arrives in time, and give a clear last order date.
Where people buy
Online is third. NRF found discount stores (39%) are the top destination, followed by specialty Halloween/costume stores (32%) and online (27%) (NRF). For a Shopify store, that means your email competes with a trip to the shops. Win on what a shop can't do: a specific product, a gift that ships to someone else, or a theme a big store doesn't carry.
Ideas that don't need a discount
- Skincare and beauty: "Nothing scary in here: our full ingredient list." See beauty marketing.
- Pet: costumes, plus a calming product for nervous pets on a noisy night. NRF expects $0.92 billion in spending on pet costumes, with a pumpkin (11.6%) and a hot dog (5.9%) among the popular choices (NRF). See pet store marketing.
- Food and candy: party boxes and recipes. Candy is the most common purchase: 96% of consumers plan to buy sweets (NRF). See food and beverage marketing.
- Cards and stationery: greeting cards are more popular this year, with planned purchases up to 42% from 38% (NRF).
- Any store: use Halloween to invite people onto your Black Friday early-access list.
Plan it with Tilly
Halloween is in the email calendar for every country it plans, as one send on the day itself, Saturday, October 31, 2026, with a working title, a subject-line idea and a reason written for your store. If Halloween doesn't fit your brand, switch the date off and the month is planned without it.
Sources
See this on your own store
Paste your store URL. The first pass takes about a minute and needs no account. Save a card (nothing is charged) and Tilly reads the whole store and works out who buys from you.