U.S. Consumers to Increase Valentine’s Day Spending to $25.9 Billion
- U.S. Consumers plan to spend nearly $26 billion this year on Valentine’s Day expenses.
- It’s the second-highest number since the National Retail Federation started the survey in 2004.
- Consumers are also more likely to gift an experience in 2023 compared to last year, and they’re also on the lookout for deals and promotions, according to the survey.
U.S. consumers are expected to spend billions more this Valentine’s Day than they did for the holiday last year, according to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights and Analytics.
The NRF in a Jan. 25 release said it anticipated consumers would spend $25.9 billion this year on expenses related to Valentine’s Day, up from the $23.9 billion that consumers spent for the holiday last year. More than half (52%) of the 7,616 U.S. adult consumers surveyed said they would celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, spending an average of $192.80, according to the NRF.
Last year, consumers planned to spend on average around $175 on Valentine’s Day expenses, the NRF said. This year’s planned spending is the second-highest ever recorded by the NRF since it first conducted the survey nearly two decades ago in 2004. Consumers planned to spend the most on the holiday in 2020 when they said they expected to spend about $196 on average.
The increase in spending is expected to come from categories unrelated to romantic relationships. According to the survey, $14 of the $17 increase over 2022 comes from expected spending on pets, friends, co-workers, classmates and teachers.
Millennials plan to outspend any other demographic, shelling out $335.71 on gifts and other expenses related to the holiday, according to the survey.
Key findings from NRF’s survey include:
- 35% of consumers plan to shop for gifts online.
- 34% plan to buy at department stores.
- 31% plan to shop at discount stores.
- 18% say they’ll shop at specialty stores.
Another change this year is the growing importance of giving experiences over physical items, according to the survey. About one-third of consumers plan to give an experience this year, up from 26% last year. Other popular gifts include the usual suspects — candy, jewelry, greeting cards and flowers.
“Another notable finding is more than half of consumers say they will take advantage of sales and promotions as they celebrate Valentine’s Day this year,” said Phil Rist, Prosper’s executive vice president of strategy, in the release.