Commentary

Valentine's Day Ad Spend Up, But Searches Down

It's not uncommon for people to search for items online and then give their spouse or significant other a list of suggested gifts. More women than men do this. In practice, the formality is intended to keep all parties happy. 

Men spent 16.6% more than women in 2019 on Valentine’s Day gifts, down from 19.7% in 2018. And while men spent more than women, women searched online more than men -- about 43.17% more than men, but down from the 45.68% spent in 2018, according to data from NetElixir.

Among NetElixir clients, when it came to spending, women between the ages of 25 and 54 bought the most expensive gifts. Men ages 25 to 34 bought the most expensive gifts.

The keyword phrases women searched on most include “valentine’s day ideas for him,” “unique valentine’s day ideas,” “cute valentine’s day gifts,” and “gift ideas for boyfriend."

The terms men use are similar, but they tend to search for “personalized” items more.

This year, NetElixir captured data separately for mobile and desktop. The company collected the overall website and search data every six 6 hours between January 27, and Valentine's Day for all the relevant retailers. In aggregate, NetElixir analyzed about $300 million in revenue.

The amount spent by marketers and consumers was disproportionate. Marketers' spend on search advertising rose 23% compared with the prior year.

The amount consumers spent through ecommerce channels rose a mere 5.3% for Valentine’s Day 2019 compared to last year among NetElixir clients.

Last year through NetElixir’s platform, shoppers spent 24.91% more in overall online purchases between January 25 and February 14, 2018.

This year, the holiday cost marketers more per click -- about 8.87% more. Consumers did buy more per order. The average order value ticked up slightly by 2.9%. In 2018, the average order value rose by 6% among NetElixir clients

About 38% of all purchases occurred prior to February 8, 2019.

Interestingly, purchases by men peaked on February 4. Purchases by women peaked on January 28, the following Monday.

Some of the most tweeted-on Twitter gifts include experiences such as movies and gifts such as love heart mug sets, Valentine’s Day gift baskets, cupcakes and cards.

Next story loading loading..