Business With a <3: Valentine's Day 2011

This is an update of a guide we created in 2007, which also coordinates with our other guides on Black Friday and Red Christmas. Valentine's Day is the 2nd most lucrative holiday for greeting card and gift basket industry, after Christmas (Carlton Cards, Hallmark, GMID Country Pulse). 40 million Valentine's Day cards were sent/exchanged in 2010 according to Hallmark.ca.

In the chocolate and confectionary industry, Valentine's Day is actually the 4th biggest holiday. Halloween, Easter and Christmas come in before Valentine's Day (Fun Facts about Valentine's Day, National Confectioners Association).

During the "Great Recession" sales took a hit in 2009 and 2010, but analysts are expecting profits to increase for 2011. According to IBIS World, sales should jump up 5.8% from 2010, averaging around $125 per person (IBIS World). Global Market Information Database (only available to current UWO students, faculty & staff) also noted that men typically spend twice as much on Valentine's Day as women do (Euromonitor - Canada: Country Pulse).

Let's break down everything down. First up: greeting cards.

Valentine's Day Cards:

Greeting cards are almost synonymous with every holiday and Valentine's Day is no exception. As noted previously, this is the holiday with 2nd most cards sent and received. Card sales are expected to increase in 2011 according to IBIS World, see table below.

In opposition to those who spend the most on Valentine's Day, men send fewer cards than women do. This is according to BIGresearch via eMarketer (only available to current UWO students, faculty & staff)

Chocolate & Candy:

After giving cards, chocolate and candy are the most popular gifts to give on Valentine's Day. Hershey and Mars are the market leaders in sales on Valentine's Day, with Russell Stover falling in 3rd place (MarketResearch.com Academic).

Nielsen Research reports that "more than 58 million pounds of chocolate candy will be sold during Valentine’s week". This accounts for 5.1% of chocolate candy’s annual sales in the United States.

Most chocolate and candy purchases will be made the day before Valentine's Day (Nielsen Research). Women are more likely to give chocolate to a man (50%) and men say they'd rather receive chocolate than flowers (Fun Facts about Valentine's Day: National Confectioners Association).

Flowers:

As noted in the above chart from eMarketer, men are more likely to give flowers to their partners than women are. IBIS World anticipates flowers will increase in sales in 2011 as well, with a growth of 16.8% from 2010.

Also according to Flowers Canada, "the younger the gift giver, the more likely the gift will be flowers. More than 46 percent of those age 18 to 24 intend to give flowers; the proportion falls to just under 27 percent by age 65 or older" (Newsbud Feb. 2009).

Jewellry:

Giving the gift of jewellry is also popular on Valentine's Day. Sales of jewellry will increasing 11.3% from 2010, according to IBIS World. Out of all the gifts given during Valentine's Day, 7.8% will be jewellry (IBIS World).

References:

"About Us - Carlton Cards Limited " 1/26/2011 <http://www.carltoncards.ca/aboutus/fastfacts.html>.

"Average Amount Spent for Valentine's Day According to US Consumers, 2003-2010 - eMarketer " 1/26/2011 <http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Chart.aspx?R=92300&Ntt=valentine&No=0&xsrc=chart_head_sitesearchx&N=0&Ntk=basic>. (only available to current UWO students, faculty & staff)

"Candy Manufacturing - Quarterly Update 1/24/2011." First Research Industry Profiles (2011) (only available to current UWO students, faculty & staff)

"Euromonitor International - Canada: Country Pulse " 1/26/2011 <http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/Portal/ResultsList.aspx>. (only available to current UWO students, faculty & staff)

"Fun Facts about Valentine's Day - Candy and Chocolate - NCA " 1/26/2011 <http://www.candyusa.com/FunStuff/FunFactsDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=977>.

"Hallmark Canada | About Hallmark Canada " 1/26/2011 <http://hallmark.ca/en/about-hallmark-canada.aspx>.

"IBISWorld Forecasts Valentine's Day to Sweeten Retail Sales." Business Wire (2011) (only available to current UWO students, faculty & staff)

"MarketResearch.com Academic Food Gifting in the U.S., 2nd Edition (2642049) " 1/26/2011 <http://academic.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=2642049&curl=&surl=/search/results.asp?qtype=1&query=valentine&sortby=d&prid=914584635&prid=914584635>. (only available to current UWO students, faculty & staff)

"NewsBud Feb-9-09." 27/01/2011 <http://flowerscanada.org/content/en/nb020909.htm>.

"U.S. Consumers Say Boo To Store Brand Candy on Halloween | Nielsen Wire " 1/26/2011 <http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/u-s-consumers-say-boo-to-store-brand-candy-on-halloween/>.

"Valentine’s Day A Sweet Spot For Chocolate Sales | Nielsen Wire " 1/27/2011 <http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/valentine’s-day-a-sweet-spot-for-chocolate-sales/>.

"Valentine's Day Gifts that US Consumers Plan to Purchase, by Gender, January 2010 (% of respondents) - eMarketer " 1/26/2011 <http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Chart.aspx?R=92302&Ntt=valentine&No=-1&xsrc=chart_head_sitesearchx&N=0&Ntk=basic>. (only available to current UWO students, faculty & staff)