The National Retail Federation says a record 170 million people plan to celebrate Halloween this year spending an estimated 8 billion dollars. This is just a fraction of what Americans spend on Christmas presents, decorations, and parties.

These numbers represent good news for businesses, but there's also a lot of planning and preparation that needs to come first, whether you're a worker, new to retail, or returning for a third decade of holiday sales.

Christmas shopping starts earlier and earlier and that proves true for 2012. The National Retail Federation says more than 60% of online retailers will start their online holiday marketing promotions by Halloween, up from about 53% from 2011.