Traditionally, Valentine’s Day has centered around the love and romance of a couple sharing chocolates and candle-lit dinners. But after surveying a representative sample of 650 adults in the USA, we’ve uncovered that there’s more to Valentine’s Day than meets the eye. You’ll find all the details in our downloadable report here.
With those details in hand, here are a few ways that brands and retailers can innovate to meet the needs of today’s Valentine’s Day consumers.
Embrace Valentine’s Day Dinner for One
Valentine’s Day, once primarily a celebration for couples and occasionally parents with children, has evolved beyond its traditional boundaries. As demographic trends around marriage and relationships have evolved, an increasing percentage of adults aren’t celebrating with a partner.
Perhaps as a result, nearly 30% of Valentine’s Day shoppers are purchasing gifts for themselves. This growing trend invites new opportunities for brands and retailers to reframe their offerings to a new target audience – single celebrators.
Dining out, ordering takeout, or opting for delivery are commonly embraced ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day. However, these options traditionally cater to couples planning a romantic evening. There’s an opportunity for restaurants to also cater to singles by offering smaller meal deals tailored for solo diners. Actively promoting these offers for singles celebrating the day is essential.
Many singles are also celebrating with loved ones, albeit not romantic partners. By extending meal deals to encompass ‘Galentine’s Day’ type celebrations and other friendship and family Valentine’s celebrations, restaurants can further broaden their appeal.
Carve out Moments of Quality Time
Valentine’s classics like roses and chocolate are always popular, but the gift of quality time is appreciated too. Many prefer a low-key Valentine’s Day, skipping fancy outfits for a casual time at a favorite spot. Businesses can embrace this by creating experiences around quality time.
The classic and easily accessible choice is dining out. Restaurants can entice both singles and couples to celebrate Valentine’s Day by featuring special meals or promotions. However, it’s essential to tread lightly on the traditional Valentine’s imagery, as many patrons seek a more laid-back experience. They want to enjoy fantastic new foods without the need for formal attire, aiming for a relaxed and casual atmosphere.
It’s not just for couples – encourage singles to enjoy a cozy afternoon reading at your book or coffee shop, or offer themed drinks for shoppers visiting your location that day. Simple gestures that show everyone they’re loved.
For mass and grocery retailers, providing bundle deals featuring prepared or heat-and-eat food along with a beverage like a bottle of wine can allow even the busiest shopper to pause and enjoy the evening.
Co-Create Personal Gifts
Valentine’s Day shoppers continue to prefer heartfelt gifts that make recipients feel good about themselves. These thoughtful presents, ranging from self-care items to personalized experiences, emphasize a deeper connection and resonate with the enduring trend of meaningful gestures that go beyond mere materialism.
Yet, the inclination toward personalized, heartfelt gifts doesn’t exclude brands from participating. There’s a significant opportunity for brands to showcase that the gift-giver invested time and thought into selecting a customized product for the recipient, steering clear of the cliché “flowers picked up at the grocery store checkout line” type of gift.
However, consider the story of how the Betty Crocker brand relaunched their cake mix products to overwhelming success by having home-bakers contribute their own personal touch to a nearly finished product.
This strategy of combining the reliability of a purchased gift with a personal touch could be applied across retailers and manufacturers:
- For beauty retailers or manfacturers:
- Create a customized self-care package that lets the giver handpick items based on the recipient’s skincare, haircare, or fragrance preferences. This thoughtful personalization ensures a one-of-a-kind gift. Offer a bundled discount for selecting multiple products, and consider including options for gift wrapping or a small gift tag for an added touch.
- For food retailers or manufacturers:
- Custom Cake Decorating Kits: Offer cake decorating kits with pre-baked cakes or cupcakes, along with frosting, toppings, and decorations. Customers can create their own personalized sweet treats.
- Build-Your-Own Dinner Kits: Provide a selection of high-quality ingredients along with recipe cards for a romantic dinner. Shoppers can choose their preferred proteins, sides, and desserts to create a personalized meal kit.
- For mass and other retailers:
- Personalized Gift Baskets: Offer an online or in-store service where customers can build their own gift baskets by selecting items from various departments, including chocolates, flowers, beauty products, and small gadgets.
- Personalized Photo Products: Provide a service for creating personalized photo gifts, such as custom photo books, calendars, or canvas prints. Include easy-to-use online tools for customization.
- Build-Your-Own Bouquets: Set up a floral section where customers can select individual flowers to create their own bouquets. Provide wrapping materials and guidance for creating a personalized arrangement.
Summary
Valentine’s Day used to mean candy and flowers shared between lovers. Today, however, it’s evolved to include respect for oneself and the appreciation of more personal gifts from the heart.
If you’re ready to understand the unique emotions and behaviors of your audience around key cultural holidays, the shopper insights experts at Explorer Research are ready to help. We have the deep knowledge and tools to help you understand your shoppers, and ultimately build a stronger path to purchase. Get in touch with us to explore your opportunities further.
Note: In January 2024, 646 adults across the USA completed a 10-minute self-administered questionnaire. As with all non-probability samples using access panels, margin of error cannot be calculated and the results are subject to both sampling and non-sampling error.
