Six in Ten to Celebrate Valentine’s Day, Spend $123 on Average

On average, each consumer plans to spend $122.98 on Valentine’s Day (similar to last year’s $119.67) resulting in total Valentine’s Day spending to reach $17.02 billion*, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, MarketingCharts reports.

(See chart of average Valentine’s Day spending, 2001-2008.)

Not surprisingly, men will again dish out the most this year, spending an average of $163.37 on gifts and cards, compared with an average of $84.72 spent by women, according to the survey.

Among the other survey findings:

• Six out of ten consumers plan on celebrating this year, and the majority of them plan to spend the most ($79.99) on their significant other or spouse (see chart).
• Consumers plan to spend slightly more this year than last on friends ($5.75 vs. $4.93 in 2007), children’s classmates and teachers ($4.05 vs. $3.35) and coworkers ($3.02 vs. $2.40).
• Traditional gifts, such as candy, flowers and jewelry, will undergo a slight decrease in popularity this year, with more consumers preferring gifts of experience and gift cards (see chart):
  • Almost half (48.2 percent) of all consumers plan a special night out, compared with 45.3 percent last year.
  • 12.3 percent will give a gift card, compared with 11.3 percent who said so last year.
  • Greeting cards still remain the most popular choice, though the number of people planning to purchase one is down from last year (56.8 percent vs. 62.8 percent).
  • Nearly 48.0 percent of consumers will buy candy.
• Adults aged 25-34 plan to spend the most this year - $160.37 on average.
  • Young adults will be the second-biggest spenders, with the average 18-24-year-old expecting to spend $145.59.
  • Next in spending are 45-54-year-olds ($117.91), 35-44-year-olds ($116.35) and 55-64-year-olds ($110.97).
• When it comes to real puppy love, 17.2 percent of celebrators also plan to spend on their pets this Valentine’s Day. Spending on pets for the holiday is estimated to reach $367 million.

“Consumers are expected to invest time and money on gifts of experience this year, in addition to staple Valentine’s Day gifts,” said Vice President of Strategy for BIGresearch Phil Rist. “Whether it’s a weekend getaway or a night out on the town, consumers are looking for quality rather than quantity.”

*Extrapolation based on US population of adults 18+.

About the survey: The NRF 2008 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to Valentine’s Day. The poll of 8,447 consumers was conducted January 2-8, 2008.