UK's £1bn Valentine's spend is minimal rise says GlobalData

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 12, 2020

Valentine’s Day is set to be worth just over £1 billion in revenue this year in Britain, a minimal 0.6% rise on last year and actually a fall if inflation is taken into account, GlobalData said on Wednesday.

The research firm said “shoppers’ spend on this occasion remains squeezed by low disposable incomes and consumer confidence”.

Fashion and beauty have limited opportunities to drive higher spending around the event than some other sectors with food and drink bought for a romantic meal at home remaining “the greatest opportunity for retailers to entice spend on this occasion with a large proportion opting to stay in”.

But they could take advantage of the Valentine’s Day gifting market as it’s the largest category for this occasion, although it’s forecast to perform poorly with just 0.6% growth in 2020. However, GlobalData said retailers “are hoping to combat this by targeting an alternative audience, taking inspiration from China’s Single’s Day (11 November) to appeal to those not coupled up with self-gifting”.

In fact, the non-couples exploitation of Valentine’s Day has been gaining momentum in recent years with marketing campaigns targeting gifts for best friends, mothers, fathers and even pets, so it will be interesting to see how this impacts 2020’s spend.

Retail analyst Zoe Mills said: “Single’s Day in China has been a massive success, and retailers in the UK are trying to open up Valentine’s Day to a wider audience. Retailers should include self-gifting in their marketing campaigns for Valentine’s Day to appeal to more individuals while still targeting the traditional audience with gifts for him/her.”