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Valentine's Day

Infographic: UK sees boost in underwear sales, while French increase flower buying for Valentine's Day

By Angela Haggerty, Reporter

February 8, 2013 | 3 min read

Lovers in Asia spend a whopping £173 per person on Valentine's Day celebrations - while Germany takes the title of lowest average spend at a more modest £59, with 31 per cent admitting to forgetting the day entirely.

Britons splash out an average £119 on their Valentine, while in the US, £231m each year is spent on Valentine's gifts for the nation's pets. The weird and wonderful figures come from Rakuten's Play.com report The Price of Love, charting global spending habits for the most romantic day of the year.

Flowers are popular with the French, with a 52 per cent increase in sales last year, while Indonesians have a love affair with chocolates, which double in sales in the run up to 14 February. Stiff-upper-lip Britain saw a 27 per cent year on year increase in lingerie sales in 2012, and spare a thought for the 15 per cent of women in the US who opt for sending themselves flowers on the big day.

Adam Stewart, marketing director at Rakuten’s Play.com, said:“Valentine’s Day continues to be another significant event for retailers, whether online or bricks-and-mortar. With sales online continuing to increase year-on-year, it’s important that retailers are ready to take advantage of the opportunity this offers them to engage with shoppers, whether this means offering a special deals, dedicated Valentine’s sections to your online store, or guaranteed next day delivery for those slightly more last minute shoppers."

The data from Rakuten LinkShare also found that jewellery sales peak on 8 February in the UK, five days later than the US, which sees its £220,000 Valentine's jewellery boost peak on 3 February.

Stewart added: "Through understanding their customers shopping habits and offering a great, personalised experience, retailers, and merchants can make sure they are feeling the love this Valentine’s Day too.”

Valentine's Day

Content created with:

Rakuten LinkShare

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