Valentine spending expected to be down
New York City Research results released Tuesday revealed that Valentine gift giving is expected to decline this year.
Consulting firm Accenture polled more than 1,000 consumers and found that discounts will rule this Valentine’s Day.
Almost half (47%) of those surveyed said they plan on spending $50 or less for a Valentine’s Day gift this year, with 67% planning to spend $100 or less.
Nearly one out of 10 consumers said they do not plan on spending any money this Valentine’s Day, with 12% of married respondents saying they do not plan on buying gifts for anyone.
Women have set their gift-getting expectations low for Valentine’s Day, with more than half of women (53%) anticipating that they will not receive any luxury items as gifts.
The survey found that while some Valentine’s Day gift giving conventions remain the same, others have changed; for instance men don’t feel pressured to buy expensive gifts. In fact, 78% of men said they felt no pressure to buy a luxury item for Valentine’s Day.
But 46% of the men surveyed did say they’re likely to buy a luxury good as a gift this Valentine’s Day.
While consumers surveyed said they preferred to do their holiday shopping for luxury goods online, the most popular shopping destination for luxury this Valentine’s Day will be mass merchandise retailers cited by 17% of consumers, followed by specialty stores (16%) and online (13%).
One impact on Valentine spending has been the lack of year-end financial compensation from employers. Eighty-four percent of Americans did not receive any additional financial compensation from their employers at year-end in the form of a raise or a bonus. Hence, 14% of consumers said that the lack of year-end financial compensation from their employer will cause them to spend less on Valentine’s Day gifts than they would have before. However, 78.7% said that regardless of year-end financial compensation, those who do buy gifts still plan on spending just as much on Valentine’s Day as they would have before.