GUEST ARTICLE: Click for Cupid…Maximizing Valentine’s Day sales online

Equally compelling statistics can be found in a survey from Adroit Digital, which found that among adults who owned both smartphone and computer, 59% stated a preference for the e-commerce channel . In both cases, it’s clear the e-commerce channel will garner a sizable chunk of the $20bn that the NRF projects Americans will spend on Valentine’s Day in 2016. For brands and retailers that sell candy/chocolate, jewelry, flowers and other gifts online, this opens up a huge opportunity to capitalize on a sales event that ranks #4 among total seasonal/event expenditures — after the winter holiday season, back-to-school and Mother’s Day. Who’s buying what on Valentine’s Day? To understand online Valentine’s shopping trends, it’s first necessary to step back and look at the holiday’s purchasing patterns across all channels. According to the NRF, the average person spent $142.31 on Valentine’s Day last year, up 6.3% from spending in 2014 . It seems that men were particularly eager to impress, spending an average of $190.53 compared to an average of $96.58 for women. The most popular gifts were: So how does this translate into online sales? Let’s look at a ‘classic’ Valentine’s category — candy and chocolate — both in terms of what transpired in 2015 and what’s happening now in 2016. What can Amazon best-sellers tell us about Valentine’s Day purchasing? According to Profitero, whose FastMovers reports monitor and benchmark the Amazon top 100 sellers across 35 categories, the following hold true — or are projected to hold true — in the Candy & Chocolate category: What are confectionery brands doing to maximize online Valentine’s Day sales? There are several key steps that manufacturers are taking — steps that your company can also take in the future, in the event you’re not implementing them already for this Valentine’s Day. What does the $1.69bn spent annually on Valentine’s candy get you? As a brand or retailer, you have an opportunity to take advantage of an occasion for which: As more shoppers turn online, a focus on seasonal and event-based marketing and merchandising strategies can certainly sweeten your e-commerce performance. Keith Anderson is VP, strategy & insights at Profitero , where he helps global companies gain a deeper understanding of their online presence to optimize online and in-store sales. Anderson has advised leading retailers and CPG companies including Walmart, Target, Best Buy, P&G, Unilever and Coca Cola.

GUEST ARTICLE: Click for Cupid…Maximizing Valentine’s Day sales online

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), a quarter of Valentine’s shoppers went online to shop and/or buy gifts in 2015, up from 16.3% the prior year.

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