The National Retail Federation (NRF) of the USA, releasing its annual survey done in conjunction with Prosper Insights & Analytics, said that “confident consumers and broader buying” is expected to culminate in  high Valentine's Day spending.

“Coming off a strong holiday season, Americans are expected to set another record for Valentine’s Day spending this year as they continue to widen the range of those they’re buying for, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics,” NRF announced.

“Valentine’s Day is a sentimental tradition, but gift-giving can be driven by the economy,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Consumers spent freely during the 2019 winter holidays and they appear ready to do the same in the new year. The same strong employment numbers and higher wages that boosted holiday sales should make it easier to spend a little extra to say ‘I love you’ this year and to spread the gift-giving beyond just your significant other.”

The survey found that those who said they would be  celebrating the holiday, plan to spend an average US$196.31; which is up by 21% over last year’s previous record spend of US$161.96 for this day. In total, spending is expected to touch US$27.4 billion, up 32% from last year’s record US$20.7 billion.

“The unusually large increase in average spending appears to be due to strong consumer finances and a continued trend of consumers buying more gifts, cards, candy and flowers for friends, family, co-workers and pets,” NRF explained. “The increase in total spending comes as the number of people celebrating Valentine’s Day returned to 55 percent, about average for the past decade, after a dip to 51 percent last year.”

Currently, the largest share of Valentine’s spending is still earmarked for spouses and significant others and accounts for 52% share of the total, or an average US$101.21 this year; up from US$93.24 in 2019. However, a point to note is that the spend share for this segment   is down from 61%,  a decade ago. “The share spent on most other recipients has gone up over the past decade, with the amount spent on co-workers, for example, more than doubling to 7 percent of the total from 3 percent,” NRF noted. “The share for pets has also doubled, to 6 percent from 3 percent in the same time period.”

Family members – other than spouses -- also  figure in Valentine’s Day spending, with consumers saying  they will spend an average US$30.19 on them, up slightly from US$29.87 last year. Other segments on whom consumers are expected to spend, the survey found are:  US$14.69 on friends, up from $9.78; US$14.45 on children’s classmates and teachers, up from US$8.63; US$12.96 on co-workers, up from US$7.78; US$12.21 on pets, up from US$6.94; and US$10.60 on others, up from US$5.72.

Interestingly the high growth segment is pets. “Twenty-seven percent say they will buy Valentine’s gifts for their pets, the highest figure in the history of the survey and up from 17 percent in 2010 for a total US$1.7 billion,” NRF underlined.

“We’ve always heard of puppy love, but pets are definitely seeing a larger share of Valentine’s Day spending,” Prosper Insights Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “Husbands and wives don’t need to be worried if their spouses are buying a Valentine’s Day gift for someone else – most likely it’s greeting cards for their children’s class at school, flowers for a family member or maybe a treat for the family dog.”

The youngest Valentine’s shoppers surveyed – those aged 18-24 years – plan to spend an average of US$109.31, the survey found.  But those between 25-34 years – “old enough to have higher incomes and children to buy for” – are expected to spend US$307.51 and are topped out by those between 35-44 years as the biggest spenders at US$358.78. As in each year of the survey, men plan to spend more than women -- at US$291.15 compared with US$106.22.

In terms of product category, the survey found that consumers plan to spend US$5.8 billion on jewellery (given by 21%); US$4.3 billion on an evening out (34%); US$2.9 billion on clothing (20%), US$2.4 billion on candy (52%), US$2.3 billion on flowers (37%), US$2 billion on gift cards (19%) and US$1.3 billion on greeting cards (43%). “Gifts of experience such as tickets to an event or a trip to a spa are wanted by 41 percent and planned by 28 percent,” NRF added.

In terms of channel of purchase, department stores are the most popular Valentine’s Day shopping destination, visited by 36%; with discount stores and online tied at 32%; specialty stores at 19%; florists at 17%; local small business at 15%;  and clothing stores and jewellery shops tied at 11%.