Jovana Obradović
Although Valentine's Day originated from romantic gestures and love, over time it has become a significant opportunity for companies to boost sales, especially those involved in sweets, flowers, jewelry, and hospitality...
Jovana Obradović
Consultant
There is no better month to delve into this topic than February, the month of love. Valentine's Day, traditionally celebrated on February 14th, has become synonymous with romantic gestures, gifts, and expressions of love. However, for years around Valentine's Day, I've been pondering the same question – is the celebration of this Day genuine, or has it become just another reminder of the need for consumption?
Valentine's Day dates back to the Middle Ages and is associated with Saint Valentine, known for his acts of love and devotion to the enchanted. Nevertheless, over the centuries, this Day has become increasingly commercialized, leading to the expression of love on Valentine's Day becoming tied to material gifts. In other words, consumerism has created a growing need for consumption to express love.
This trend has been recognized by companies, especially those selling sweets, flowers, greeting cards, jewelry, clothing, etc., or operating in the tourism and hospitality sector as a perfect opportunity to increase profits. Hence, it's no surprise that companies have been using emotional appeals through marketing campaigns for years to create a need for luxurious or less luxurious gifts through which lovers can prove the actual value of love. The idea is undoubtedly the same – to suggest to consumers that true love is measurable by the money spent on gifts. But have companies and marketing experts succeeded in their endeavors?
Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on one's perspective, we must admit that they certainly have. According to data from the NRF in the United States, total spending on Valentine's Day gifts in 2023 amounted to $26 billion, with expectations that spending will reach the same, if not higher, level in 2024. This means that total spending in 2023 and 2024 reached almost the same level as in February 2020, just before the pandemic, when spending on Valentine's Day gifts in America reached a historical peak of nearly $27.5 billion, almost double the spending recorded in 2010 related to this holiday.
Although the United States is at the top of the list regarding spending and the number of people celebrating Valentine's Day, the situation is similar in Europe. However, variations in the celebration of this Day are noticeable from country to country. As expected, among all Europeans, Spaniards, French, and Italians are the most likely to celebrate Valentine's Day, while this holiday is less popular among, for example, Germans. This is supported by the fact that in 2021, about €2 billion was spent on gifts celebrating love in France alone (Gitnux), while Italians spent around €290 million just on dining out on Valentine's Day (Fipe, the Italian Federation of public businesses). Interestingly, men spend roughly 30% to 50% more money buying Valentine's Day gifts than women.
Will anything change in the coming years, considering the economic pressures and disruptions arising from various events we have witnessed, such as the pandemic and wars? Although the global economy is still in a period of slow growth and high inflation, according to Euromonitor research, sellers and traders are optimistic when it comes to spending for Valentine's Day 2024 and in the coming years, primarily because the latest data show that the luxury market continues to show resilience despite global disruptions. On the other hand, social media has undoubtedly played a significant role in shaping the perception of Valentine's Day and directed people to spend more on gifts and experiences that are "Instagram-worthy," which is why I believe the value of this market will continue to grow, i.e., for sales, manufacturing, and service companies that can meet consumers' needs, "the sky's the limit."
Looking at the statistics mentioned, regardless of whether you love and celebrate Valentine's Day or not, it's clear that Valentine's Day has evolved into one of today's biggest commercial holidays. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Again, it depends on one's perspective, but let's not be harmful and view Valentine's Day as a perfect opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises to boost their sales and for those who celebrate it to brighten up the winter season with joy.
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