Billions of dollars of flowers and heart-shaped candy boxes. That’s what the National Retail Federation expects this Valentine’s Day. The federation, in fact, says that Valentine’s Day spending is expected to reach its second-highest level ever this year.
According to the federation’s annual Valentine’s Day spending survey, U.S. consumers are expected to spend $23.9 billion this Valentine’s Day. That’s up from $21.8 billion in 2021 and will rank as the second-highest spending year on record.
“Following the historic level of consumer spending over the winter holidays, it appears that the trend will continue into 2022,” said National Retail Federation president and chief executive officer Matthew Shay, in a written statement. “Valentine’s Day is a special occasion for many Americans, even more so as we navigate out of the pandemic, and retailers are prepared to help them mark the holiday in a memorable and meaningful way.”
More than half — 53 percent — of U.S. consumers said they planned to celebrate the holiday in 2022, up from 52 percent in 2021. A total of 76 percent of those celebrating the holiday said that it is important to do so given the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the survey, shoppers expect to spend an average of $175.41 per person on Valentine’s Day gifts, up from $164.76 in 2021.
The survey found that candy (56 percent), greeting cards (40 percent) and flowers (37 percent) remain the most popular gifts this Valentine’s Day. A total of 31 percent of respondents said htey plan to gift an “evening out” this year, up from 24 percent in 2021 and just slightly below pre-pandemic levels.
A total of 22 percent said they give jewelry to a special someone this year. Total spending on jewelry is estimated at $6.2 billion, up from $4.1 billion in 2021 and the highest in the survey’s history.
Consumers said they planned to spend plenty of time online when shopping for Valentine’s Day gifts this year, with 41 percent saying that was how they were buying their presents. A total of 32 percent said they would buy their gifts at department stores, 28 percent at discount stores, 18 percent at local small businesses and 17 percent at florists.
The federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics conducted the survey of 7,728 U.S. adult consumers from Jan. 3-11.