How does one define love? Valentine's Day is a great commercial opportunity for retailers to generate revenue following the Christmas peak. In a post-pandemic society and as we see the expansion of the online retail landscape, Awin data reveals how shoppers preferred to shop for their valentine this year.
Flowers continue to top the charts for Valentine's Day gifting. However, new year-on-year (YoY) sectors are emerging, ranging from erotic (+1000% YoY), to baby care (+36% YoY) and pet care (+41% YoY). It seems that Valentine's gifting is starting to extend beyond traditional purchases. Consumers are choosing to buy for pets and family members as part of this shopping holiday which corresponds with the increase in average order YoY.
In addition, smartphone purchases are driving most sales, with an increase in device share YoY. Consumers are more comfortable to buy products via mobile or smartphone than ever before.
Retail Client Partner, Lee Metters, commented: Our research into Valentine’s Day shopping trends points towards the emergence of non-traditional gifting purchases. Floral sales continue to account for the largest share of shopper purchases with over 100,000 sales tracked in the week proceeding Valentine’s Day. This is despite an annual decrease of -15%, when Valentine’s Day 2021 was spent in lockdown. Interestingly, the decline in floral sales coincided with an increase in other retail sub-sectors, demonstrating that typical shopping behavioural patterns are continuing to evolve. Retailers must be reactive and adapt; those that do so will continue to drive growth in this new age of digital retail.
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