Valentine’s Day and E-commerce – Are retailers doing enough to achieve sales?

Valentine’s Day and E-commerce - Are retailers doing enough to achieve sales?

Valentine’s Day is often a day that goes unnoticed for retailers who aren’t sellers of traditional romantic gifts such as flowers or cards. But with Valentine’s Day becoming a peak shopping period after a slow January month, surely there is a way for all retailers to capitalise on this holiday?

Every year the statistics for what customers are buying their loved ones for Valentine’s Day rarely change, with men buying 73% of the flowers and women buying 85% of the romantics cards in 2017 according to channelreply.com*. However in recent years there seems to be an upward trend in unusual gifts being brought for loved ones or even those who aren’t in a relationship indulging in online treats.

One of the key trends that has been noted is single people spending a lot on themselves during this romantic period. Single men and women have been seen to buy themselves gifts as a special treat, with women even sending themselves flowers. This could be linked to Valentine’s Day or could be due to the colder weather and the long wait between pay checks over January, shoppers are feeling the need for some retail therapy.
A trend has also occurred where men and women are spending money on their pets online over Valentine’s Day. A wonderful way to show our furry friends that they are loved, you can now buy heart shaped dog treats or cat toys. A great way to up-sell to customers whilst they are shopping for their pet essentials.

With these factors in mind, there are plenty of ways for all online retailers to capitalise on Valentine’s Day. One of the key tactics that is used time and time again, is the conveyance of urgency. The key shopping days for Valentine’s Day are much later than Christmas, with many sites seeing a spike in traffic as late as 11th February. Banners and money off 1st class delivery allow retailers to offer gifts fast, forcing those who may be leaving their gift to the last minute to spend now.

A dedicated Valentine’s category page is also essential for helping customers find related products easily, rather than sorting through separate pages. These pages also allow retailers to steer customers in the direction of the products that they want them to purchase during this period, offering them new ideas that they may not have thought of. This works well even for those who don’t sell the traditional chocolate and flowers gifts.

At Vertical Plus we have a great history in generating growth for our e -commerce partners over the Valentine’s Day period through a series of targeted campaigns and great website design. We hope to see an increase in sales during this peak period for our e-commerce partners and for Valentine’s Day to continue to be a key event for all retailers.

Sources;

*https://www.channelreply.com/blog/view/valentines-day-e-commerce-stats-tips

*https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2018/03/12/valentines-day-2018-online-sales-recap-in-charts/

*https://martech.zone/valentines-day-commerce-stats/