Marketers Love Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day is a big holiday for marketers. Consumers (begrudgingly) come out to shop for their sweeties, and in many cases, V-Day shopping involves digital channels. Here is a quick look at how Valentine’s Day looks from a digital marketing perspective:

• - Twenty-three percent of all internet users are planning to shop online.
• - Top 10 February Keywords by Volume (2010)- Flowers, Valentine’s Day, Flower Delivery, Roses, Valentine’s Day Gifts, Flower, Vermont Teddy Bear, Orchids, Valentine’s Gifts
• - Leading up to Valentine’s Day from February 1 to February 12, the average CPC for the top ten terms increased 32x.
• - Online shoppers plan to spend a combined net average of almost $200 for Valentine’s Day, or about two-thirds more than offline-only shoppers.
• - E-commerce sales of flowers will increase 9 percent, and jewelry sales will increase 11 percent.
• - Online shoppers plan to spend a net average of $114.25 on just their significant other or spouse, about 66% more than offline only shoppers.
• - 58% of consumers in 2010 said they look at restaurant menus online, up from 31% in 2005
• - 27% of consumers said they make reservations for dining online in 2010, up from 10% in 2005.
• - Everspark identified nine terms that were uncharacteristically “volcanic” in popularity the last two Valentine’s Days. In no particular order, they were:
  • - Olive Garden
  • - Red Lobster
  • - Applebee’s
  • - Outback
  • - Outback Steakhouse
  • - Outback Steakhouse coupons
  • - Outback Steakhouse menu
  • - Chili’s
  • - Macaroni Grill

Sources:

Married vs unmarried online shoppers opinions in 2010:

• - http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Chart.aspx?Ntk=basic&Ne=1047&R=92568&N=908&Ntt=valentines+day&xsrc=chart_head_sitesearchx&No=1

Retail Ecommerce Sales Growth by Category, 2010-2014:

• - http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Chart.aspx?R=105199&Ntt=flowers&No=-1&xsrc=chart_head_sitesearchx&N=0&Ntk=basic

Survey conducted by BIGresearch:

• - http://blog.shop.org/2011/02/01/online-shoppers-to-treat-loved-ones-this-valentines-day/

Info provided by the National Restaurant Association’s 2011 Restaurant Industry Forecast:

• - http://thepacker.com/Forecast-calls-for-improving-restaurant-outlook/Article.aspx?oid=1304764&fid=PACKER-FOODSERVICE&aid=117

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110210006469/en/Valentine%E2%80%99s-Day-Search-Report-Shows-%E2%80%9CFlowers%E2%80%9D-Love

Fox News

• - http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2011/02/07/slackers-wait-afternoon-valentines-day-restaurant/