Will You Be My (Expensive) Valentine?
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. CREDIT: Valentine's Day Gift Image via Shutterstock |
They say you can't buy love, but new research finds you might be able to on Valentine's Day. In fact, 62 percent of consumers say they will be spending up to $100 on gifts for loved ones this Valentine's Day (Feb. 14).
An additional 36 percent say they plan to spend more than $100, up from 28 percent in 2012. Overall, 52 percent of people say they will be spending the same amount for Valentine's Day this year, while 26 percent indicated they will be spending more. Just 17 percent say they will spend less and 5 percent of respondents will not be buying a gift. Fifty-five percent of respondents say that the economy will play a part in their gift-giving decisions.
Consumers will be shopping in a number of places this year for their gifts. Sixty-nine percent of shoppers say they will go to a store for their presents, while 56 percent say they would buy something online. Both percentages represent a double-digit increase from last year.
"Consumers continue to shop and conduct product research in advance of making purchases in order to find the best pricing on products. We expect this trend to continue as shoppers hit the stores and go online to make their Valentine's Day gift purchases this year," said Rojeh Avanesian, vice president of marketing and analytics of PriceGrabber.com, which conducted the research of 2,251 online shoppers.
"Our survey showed that 36 percent of consumers plan to compare prices using their mobile phones when Valentine's Day gift shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, a jump from 29 percent in 2012, revealing that consumers are increasingly using their mobile devices to look for the best deals," Avanesian said.
A majority of shoppers looking to make their purchases in stores will do so at small businesses, additional research has found. Ninety-one percent of consumers say they feel it is important to support small businesses in their communities for Valentine's Day, the American Express Open Shop Small Valentine's Day Monitor says. To that end, more than 40 percent of consumers say they will eat at local restaurants for Valentine's Day. One-quarter of respondents say they will shop at small businesses because of the customer service.
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