If you’re in the business of food and gifts, Valentine’s Day is an excellent opportunity to appeal to customers looking to spoil their partners. However, research shows businesses could be missing out as singles prove to be a surprising Valentine’s market to cash in on.
Research from Emarsys suggests that many consumers will be gifting themselves this Valentine’s Day. In fact, when asked in a survey what they would be doing differently this year, 11 per cent of respondents said they would be self-gifting – the most popular response.
Meanwhile, nine per cent of respondents said they would be celebrating their platonic relationships. This figure rises to 20 per cent amongst those in the 16-24 years age group.
“Over the past few years as interest in Galentine’s Day has steadily grown, the young singles demographic has become an increasingly lucrative target among marketers pushing out Valentine’s Day promotions. After a challenging year in 2020, whether coupled up or flying solo, consumers are looking to spoil themselves and their loved ones,” said Adam Ioakim, Managing Director, APAC at Emarsys.
The research also revealed that those in romantic relationships would be putting more effort in this year after 2020 put a major dampener on going out. Nine per cent of consumers will be spending more on their partners this year, while seven per cent claimed they have given much more thought to gifts and have been looking online for over a month.
Consumers are sticking to old favourites when it comes to Valentine’s Day presents. Chocolates (36 per cent) are unsurprisingly the most popular gifts, followed by flowers (29 per cent), gadgets/technology (16 per cent) and underwear (14 per cent). Most respondents (17 per cent) will be spending between $46 -$63 on their partners.
Many Aussies are also expected to shop for their significant others online this year, with 31 per cent of respondents preferring to buy their Valentine’s gifts online to access better deals.
“These findings correlate to current trends indicating massive growth in the e-commerce sector. As of the latest figures from Australia Post in December, online shopping growth is currently sitting at 34.9 per cent year-on-year,” said Ioakim.
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