Valentine’s Day is one of the hottest days for retailers since consumer spend more and more of their wallet, reaching an impressive volume of sales, both online and offline. This is why brands all over the world try to be as creative and effective as possible to gain a bigger share on Valentine’ Day sales. So what do consumer prefer to buy as gifts? Which gender is more giving? How many do they spend on average this lovely day? ContactPigeon, an eCommerce marketing automation platform collected the most adorable Valentine’s Day statistics in regards to buying trends to get the big picture:
Q4 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
Top buying trends of Valentine's Day
When it comes to consumer buying trends, love is in the air for Valentine’s Day, and so is online shopping. In this infographic, we’ll take you through the buying trends paving the way for the most romantic day of the year to set new records in eCommerce sales.
It’s a fact: More and more people are saying “I love you” with online purchases. When Valentine’s Day rolls around, marketing managers can expect a boost in their conversions thanks to the growing increase of online buying trends. The National Retail Association notes that eCommerce sales boomed in 2018 as 29% of Valentine’s Day shoppers made purchases online -- a 2% annual increase!
Still not convinced this holiday is worth all the hype? Consider that total Valentine’s Day sales increased from an estimated $18.2 billion in 2017 to an estimated $19.6 billion in 2018. This means that overall global growth is bursting with love! Global eCommerce sales have seen a whopping year-over-year average growth rate of 24% since 2014 through 2017, while just in the past year, global e-retail sales skyrocketed nearly 25% from 2017.
Since over 10.2% of global retail sales were accounted for by retail e-commerce sales in 2017, savvy eCommerce marketers need to focus on creating a heart-winning email marketing campaign. We’ve got you covered! We’ll share with you all the stats you need to identify the latest marketing trends. Think of it an early Valentine’s Day gift for 2020. Read on, heart-breaker!
Valentine's Day is the 2nd biggest commercial day in terms of buying trends in the US
Here’s something to get every eCommerce marketers’ heart fluttering with joy: Valentine’s Day comes in second to Black Friday on the commercial status scale. From 2017 to 2018 alone, overall retail sales increased $1.4 billion for this romantic day. As the popularity of the holiday has grown, the holiday has evolved. Nowadays, purchases go far beyond the typical flowers and candy. In 2018, over 30% of online purchases came in over $100 per customer. Either that’s a really big box of chocolates or something else is going on. Curious? Read on...
Only 55% celebrated Valentine's Day with a significant other
Although Valentine’s Day is the second most popular consumer holiday, only just over half of the population -- 55% to be exact -- planned celebration with a significant other. The other 45%? They celebrate in other ways...12%, for example, opt to treat themselves to something special, while 10% planned to get together with friends and family. 3% must be suffering from broken hearts...as they planned to purchase anti-Valentine’s Day gifts!
Candy was the top popular category while Jewelry generated the most revenue
What gifts say “I love you”? Top sellers for Valentine’s Day 2019 includes candy at the top of the list with 55% of shoppers saying they will the gift of sugar to their loved ones. Greeting cards came in next with 46% of Valentine’s shoppers gifting them, while 36% are opting to give flowers. Date nights account for 35% of shoppers plans and giving jewelry came in last with only 19% of shoppers planning to buy it. However, the interesting fact here is that jewelry generated the most revenue. That’s right, consumers spent only $1.8B on candy, while they proved that diamonds really are a girl's best friend by spending $4.7B on jewelry for loved ones.
The recipients of gifts on Valentine's Day
We know you’re wondering who is buying for whom on this holiday. It might surprise you to learn that Bow-wow and Mittens are scoring big on this holiday. This holiday is no longer only about romance, rather it’s about buying for all of your loved ones and we buy our pets more Valentine’s Day gifts than our co-workers, with 19.9% of customers spending money on presents for their furry friends, compared to only 10.3% buying for their co-workers. However, love and romance live on! The same data shows 90% of customers buy their significant others or spouses Valentine’s Day gifts.
The most giving sex is Men with 62% according to with latest data
When it comes to gift giving, men spend more than women. In fact, data shows that unmarried men ages 25–34, are the biggest spenders. Also, this might be the one time a year when men shop more than women and do the most gift-giving, as 62% of men planned to give gifts versus only 45% of women buying a gift for a loved one in 2019.
Title: The average spending per country
Americans spend big on holidays and with an estimated 135 million people in the USA planning to shop for Valentine’s Day in 2019, projected sales reached $30B. The latest data estimates average spending on Valentine’s Day gifts per consumer is $221.34.
Consumers in the UK are love-struck as well, with an increase in sentimental spending by 11% since 2015. Online spending is trending as well. ECommerce transactions grew a staggering 169% from Valentine’s Day 2015 to 2017.
In Europe, on February 12, 2018, it was all about...flowers! That’s right, there was an influx of 7x more flowers sold on that day, and a total of 400% more flowers than usual ordered on Valentine’s Day itself in 2018.
Consumers to shop 2 weeks earlier their Valentine's Gifts
For eCommerce marketers, it might be surprising to learn that in 2018, almost 50% of Valentine’s Day shoppers planned on buying their gifts for loved ones during the first 2 weeks of February. This is why we always recommend in order to avoid a broken heart, eCommerce marketers to roll out their unique Valentine’s Day marketing strategies early to grab the attention of love-sick consumers, who start planning for the big day ahead of time - as a month in advance.
Take a look at Valentine's day buying trends in the infographic embedded below
About ContactPigeon
ContactPigeon is an all-in-one eCommerce marketing automation platform that helps enterprises engage, nurture and convert their website visitors to customers, via an omnichannel approach. The platform offers proven eCommerce automations, contact management, list segmentation, easy drag and drop email campaign generator and all the necessary tools an enterprise needs to massively scale up across multiple channels - emails, web, SMS & push notifications.
ContactPigeon has more than 250 enterprise customers in the US and Europe.
