Partners may love each other more than ever, but the severe recession is taking a toll on the way they’ll express their love this Valentine’s Day.
Consumers plan to spend an average $102.50 on Valentine’s gifts and merchandise, down from last year’s $122.98 per person, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch. The research firm surveyed 8,850 U.S. consumers in early January.
“A bad economy won’t stop Cupid this Valentine’s Day, but it might slow him down,” says NRF president and CEO Tracy Mullin. “This year more than ever, consumers will look for creative and inexpensive ways to show those they love how much they mean to them.”
As a result, many Internet retailers are pouring their hearts out this week for the big gifting holiday—special promotions and contests, using everything from e-mail marketing to social networking to m-commerce, abound.
J.C. Penney Co. Inc., for example, has declared this week National Doghouse Prevention Week, making sure forgetful lovers remember the big day. The multi-channel retailer, No. 15 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, has sent out special reminder e-mails and is displaying online banners that send shoppers to BewareOfTheDoghouse.com. There J.C. Penney suggests gifts to help shoppers stay out of the doghouse, as well as enable shoppers to publicly shame special someones by putting them in a visual doghouse (and lets special someones learn how to get out of the doghouse). On the special site, shoppers can connect to their Facebook pages to see if Facebook Friends are in the doghouse.
Victoria’s Secret Direct also is turning to Facebook, among other things, to share the love this Valentine’s Day, and hopefully increase sales. The lingerie retailer created a special Facebook page for Valentine’s Day that enables shoppers to connect with one another, view lingerie pictures and videos, and learn about special offers. One such offer is cobranded: a box of Godiva chocolates designed exclusively for Victoria’s Secret free with any $60 purchase. The lingerie retailer, No. 20 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, also has created a special Valentine’s Day online gift guide, allowing shoppers to narrow products by persona, such as femme fatale, fun & flirty, and pure romance.
On another front, 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. is making things easy for partners to send a dozen red roses on the go. Monday it unveiled an iPhone application dedicated to Valentine’s Day, offering mobile shoppers a significantly streamlined way to order the traditional gift of red roses. The app is something of a test—the retailer, No. 36 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, may use it as a template for future offerings designed for specific events, such as birthdays, Mother’s Day or other holidays.
The gifts retailer also is relying on special messaging through its social network fan pages. “Fan pages on MySpace and Facebook along with our participation in Twitter will allow us to keep a strong two-way communication with customers,” a spokeswoman says. “Using the various social media tools this Valentine’s Day and beyond will only strengthen our brand performance.”
Additionally, 1-800-Flowers.com is doing a cobranded sweepstakes with Zale Corp. for a flowers and diamonds giveaway. The gifts retailer’s director of web marketing, Kevin Ranford, will be speaking at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, June 15-18 in Boston, in a session entitled 1-click checkout: The key to m-commerce success.
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