Valentine’s Day Spending to Hit a High

Washington--The National Retail Federation says consumers will spend a total of $19.7 billion on their loved ones this Valentine’s Day, $4.4 billion of which will go toward jewelry.

Nearly one in five shoppers are planning to treat their significant other or family member to “something precious,” i.e. jewelry, this year, which equates to nearly 20 percent of those who took the NRF’s 2016 Valentine’s Day Spending Survey.

The largest percentage of respondents, 50 percent, said they plan to buy candy, spending a total of $1.7 billion. A little more than 38 percent said they’ll treat their dates to a night out at a restaurant, or with tickets to a show or other experience, spending $4.5 billion, the highest spend amount since NRF began the survey in 2010.

About $1.1 billion will be spent on greeting cards, $1.9 billion on flowers and $2 billion will go toward purchases of apparel.

The NRF also for the first time asked survey-takers about “gifts of experience.” Around 24 percent of respondents said they plan to give a gift of experience, such as tickets to a concert, a spa service or art lesson, and nearly one in four (39 percent) said they’d love to receive a gift of experience.

In total, the 55 percent of consumers the NRF said will celebrate Valentine’s Day this year will spend an average of $146.84 on gifts like flowers, jewelry, candy and apparel, up from $142.31 in 2015.

“Low gas prices and promotions from retailers large and small should help consumers as they look for the perfect gift for their friends and family,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Looking ahead, we’re optimistic consumers are in a good place when it comes to spending on discretionary items like gifts.”

Department stores will see the most traffic with 35 percent of respondents heading to those types of stores to shop, followed by discount stores (31 percent), online (28 percent), florists (19 percent) specialty stores (19 percent) and small, local businesses (15 percent).

The NRF’s 2016 Valentine’s Day Spending Survey polled a total of 7,293 shoppers between Jan. 5 and 12.