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People (especially single people) have certain opinions about Valentine’s Day. Some are good and some are not quite so good. But regardless, there’s little to no doubt that people are spending money around the holiday and therefore you should be prepared for it.
If you’re thinking, “my brand doesn’t do flowers or chocolate”, you might not be thinking outside of the heart-shaped box. People have become much more adventurous when deciding a Valentine’s Day gift.
You’d be surprised at some of the items people are finding online to try to make their significant other (or themselves) happy on the special day. Which leads me to the first key to nailing Valentine’s Day from an e-commerce perspective.
1. Identify and proceed to highlight the items you sell that make sense as Valentine’s Day gifts
Of course, you are the most knowledgeable about your own inventory. Try to think of ways to identify and highlight great products that would be perfect gifts for Valentines everywhere. Create graphics and copy for your homepage and other relevant pages on your website to highlight these products as great Valentine’s Day choices for anyone who visits your website during the days leading up to the holiday.
For someone struggling to figure out what to buy their partner, you’re making it easier for them to see their options and make a decision, which makes it that much more likely for them to click through and make a purchase.
Pretty obvious, right? But you should dig deeper.
2. Bundle together great Valentine’s Day products and provide deals
There’s very little downside to this strategy. Increasing AOV (average order value) in the process, you can put together fun Valentine bundle ideas that any confused boyfriend or girlfriend would see and have strike their interest.
Unfortunately, Valentine’s Day celebrators have been doing less shopping year over year since 2007. However, last year,
older Millennials were the biggest-spending age group on Valentine’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation.
They found that 25-34-year-olds in the U.S. planned on spending an average of $202.76, compared to an overall average of $143.56—for a cumulative total of $19.6 billion. They were also 18% more likely than the average adult to gift an experience, instead of an item.
3. Think beyond romance
Galentine’s Day and pet Valentine’s gifts are fair game! Even if you think it makes sense, target the market of people that get Valentine’s Day gifts for everyone in their school or place of work.
Of course, for those who haven’t been indoctrinated, Galentine’s Day takes place on February 13, celebrating female friendships. This nonofficial holiday originates from a viral episode of the Parks and Recreation TV series and has become a popular real-life event among millennials. You can create a social media post or a whole marketing campaign around this day.
4. Remind people about self-love, and come from the angle of celebrating being single
The same methods above apply. A lot of brands have been successful targeting people who want to treat themselves on this potentially triggering holiday.
Imagine a shopper drinking wine and browsing online on Valentine’s Day night. He or she might be interested in some retail therapy and while the holiday is typically one where we express love to our significant others, why can’t that love be directed at ourselves?
If brands promote being single as a positive experience, that could lead to more clicks and eventually more purchased products.
5. Make sure your shipping infrastructure can guarantee arrival by the big day
For any gift-focused holiday, timing matters. Giving someone a gift on February 16 just won’t play out the same way as
getting it to them on Valentine’s Day itself. For e-commerce sites, that means the worry about products shipping in time can make visitors hesitate to press that “buy” button.
The best way for you to overcome that objection is to make it clear when your customers will get their products. For early shoppers, post on your site how long they have left to put in their order and still get it in time using the cheapest shipping option. For late browsers, promote the shipping option they need to choose for guaranteed delivery in time (Choose 2-day shipping to get your order before February 14!).
6. Be as inclusive as possible regarding different types of love
This one is huge. In 2020, you need to be ahead of the curve when it comes to LGBT+ relationships alongside straight relationships which typically carried the day in the past. Depending on your product and/or service offering, you should keep in mind same-sex couples as well as trans and queer buyers who will perhaps turn to another site if yours feels exclusionary.
Love is love, after all. So, of course you don’t have to pander, but it’s important to include all forms of love (again, self love still counts!) and work to make sure everyone feels safe and welcome on your site. This will lead to MORE purchases!
Best of luck out there and I hope love finds you this Valentine’s Day!
