Consumers to spend 987 million pounds on Valentine’s Day

Despite many British consumers feeling that Valentine’s Day has become too commercial, new figures from GlobalData Retail reveals that 987 million pounds will be spent on gifts and cards this year.

The forecast states a “slight increase” in total spend on last year, by 0.7 percent, with price inflation in cards and flowers being offset by the high level of competition in the market. GlobalData adds that the supermarkets are not only competing against each other for a share of the spending, they have to contend with increasing competition from the general merchandisers such as B&M and Poundland.

Anish Dosani, retail analyst at GlobalData said: “Partners and spouses are going to benefit this year from increased competition in the market, but for retailers, though there is a slight increase in overall spending, any increase is being shared across far more participants as retailers take advantage of the occasion and attempt to gain a bigger share of spending.”

The research also reveals that consumers hold negative perceptions of Valentine’s Day, despite their willingness to spend, with more than three-quarters (81.2 percent) of consumers surveyed by GlobalData in 2016 feeling that Valentine’s Day has become too commercial, while more than half (52.3 percent) said that it is a waste of money.

Dasani added: “While we expect there to be an increase in consumer spending on Valentine’s Day this year, the more general lack of interest in the occasion means that retailers are going to have to work even harder to drive sales and win this spend.”