The True Cost of Valentine’s Day

Today’s post comes to you from the SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Team

This February, we’re using our love of analytics to find out the true cost of Valentine’s Day. The National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted its annual Valentine’s Day consumer spending survey to gauge how Americans celebrate this special holiday. Naturally, we wanted to transform this data into visualized graphs so that we could quickly see shopping habits and trends at a glance.

Holiday Spending by Year

Over the past 12 years, Valentine’s Day spending has been trending up. 2016 saw the highest total spend at nearly 20 billion dollars.

Holiday Spending Comparison

Tied for third place with Mother’s Day, Americans spent 20 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day last year. This includes flowers, cards, candy, jewelry, and dining out. Not surprisingly, Americans vastly outspend on Christmas compared to all other holidays combined.

Where Consumers Buy Valentine’s Day Gifts

Taking the lead at 35%, department stores are where consumers shop the most for Valentine’s Day gifts. Perhaps due to the abundance of choice under one roof, consumers prefer shopping at department stores than any other place.

Valentine’s Day Spending by Category

Last year, Americans spent close to 9 billion dollars on jewelry and dining out on Valentine’s Day. Both are more than double the next largest category. Surprisingly, clothing is more popular than flowers.

Average Valentine’s Day Spending Men vs Women

On average, men spend nearly twice as much on Valentine’s Day than women. The steady rise could be a result in an increase in both income levels and inflation.

Average Valentine’s Day Spending by Age

According to the NRF survey, 25- 34-year-olds spend the most on Valentine’s Day gifts. This could be indicative of a few factors such as having more disposable income, being unmarried, and targeted marketing.

Most Popular Valentine’s Day Flowers

Out of the top 10 bestselling flowers, 7 of them are roses. Traditionally, red roses have always been associated with Valentine’s Day so not surprisingly, they are purchased nearly twice as much as the next bestselling flower.

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This post originally appeared on the SAP BusinessObjects Cloud page and has been republished with permission.