How to maximize your Valentine's Day revenue with gift cards?
Valentine's Day continues to hold its status as an essential celebration worldwide. For e-commerce and retail, the day of love represents a commercial opportunity to boost in-store traffic and increase revenue. To maximize these opportunities, it is imperative to deploy a well-defined strategy, set specific goals, and, most importantly, implement various initiatives.
Let's not forget the major asset that is the gift card. The gift card is an increasingly appreciated present even during the celebration of love. In this article, we will explore the essential levers to fully leverage this service.
Before delving into the details, let's review the intentions and available budget for this love-filled celebration.
What are the statistics and figures for Valentine's Day 2024?
How many consumers intend to participate in this romantic celebration?
53% of consumers intend to celebrate Valentine's Day in 2024, a slight decrease from last year. The most enthusiastic, as always, are the 25-34 age group, with 62% planning something for this occasion.
The average budget is increasing: $185.81 on average, $8 more than last year. Online shopping is the number one destination for buying Valentine's Day gifts, with a 40% increase, compared to 35% last year. Consumers also plan to visit department stores (33%), discount stores (31%), and florists (17%).
What are the trendy activities and gifts for Valentine's Day 2024?
For this year, the top 3 gifts that consumers want to offer are:
• Candies (57%)
• Greeting cards (40%)
• Flowers (39%)
In terms of activities, 52% will go to a restaurant for a romantic dinner on Valentine's Day evening (an increase of 7 points compared to last year), while 26% plan to prepare a quiet romantic dinner at home. Others, more ambitious, will organize a romantic weekend (29%).
Those resistant to Valentine's Day
47% are resistant to Valentine's Day. Among the reasons, we have:
• 38% are single and see no interest.
• 46% consider this celebration as commercial or outdated.
• 11% find this celebration too expensive.
• 5% lack time or have other priorities.
Consumers are less inclined to prefer Valentine's Day to other celebrations like Christmas (4 out of 5 prefer Christmas) or Mother's Day (two-thirds prefer this celebration over the celebration of love).
The gift card, an increasingly appreciated gift for Valentine's Day
Why highlight your gift card for the celebration of love?
The gift card is increasingly appreciated as a gift: quick to order, it appeals to the indecisive who want to be sure to please their loved one. It is a perfect alternative for last-minute shoppers who can receive an e-gift card in less than 5 minutes and make their significant other's heart beat.
The gift card has other advantages for brands: all gift card holders will come to spend them after Valentine's Day, boosting traffic to your stores. And of course, recipients will generate additional revenue, as their shopping carts often exceed the value of the gift card. Today, on average, one-third exceeds it, for an additional average of $61.
And in all of this, which sectors sell the most gift cards during the celebration of love?
• Cosmetics & Perfumes sector
• Cultural sector
• High-Tech sector
The product offerings of brands in these sectors partly explain their success, but we also notice a significant increase in marketing campaigns and initiatives aimed at promoting their gift card services during this period.
Adapt your gift card service
To maximize your revenue on Valentine's Day, consider adapting your gift card service.
This involves offering visuals of cards dedicated to this celebration while staying within the universe of your brand. Celebrate love, your brand, and offer a product tailored to your customers.
Highlight your customization features, such as the ability to write a love message to the recipient. And your practical features, like sending the card on February 14th.
Sephora, a cosmetics and perfume brand, is a great example. Every year, they rework visuals and their order page to mark this special time
Also, consider simplifying your checkout process to the maximum by avoiding the creation of a customer account or the shopping cart step. Like Sephora, optimize the steps. The majority of gift card buyers are not your main target audience.
Take a concrete example. Suppose you are a cosmetics and perfume brand. It won't be your regular customer who orders a card but their partner. Not knowing which cosmetics she uses or her fragrance preferences, he will opt for a gift card that gives his sweetheart the choice.
Finally, enhance the value of your gift card by creating dedicated bundles in limited quantities for this special time. Associate your gift card with a popular product within your brand. It could be a lipstick and a card, a bouquet of flowers and a gift card, a wallet and a gift card, etc.
Maximize the visibility of your gift card for the Valentine’s Day
Now that you have adapted your service, you need to make it visible.
On your e-commerce site, consider placing your gift card in the main menu and in the special Valentine's Day section. If you create a dedicated page for gift ideas for your better half, include the gift card in your suggestions.
You can create a pop-up, banner, or insert on the homepage of your site. Facilitate searches to find the gift card, make it visible to offer an always practical alternative that consumers are sure to receive on time.
Think about external channels. Post on social media, run an advertising campaign on networks or search engines. Highlight your service by emphasizing the immediacy of sending the e-card, perfect for last-minute shoppers. For the uncertain or indecisive, suggest the gift card to ensure a delightful surprise for their loved one.
Create an email campaign for your customers, once to showcase your service and another time 2 or 3 days before to target procrastinators.
We have a great example from Nike, a sportswear brand, that promotes its gift card service to the undecided. They also offer some gift product ideas.
Another example is Steamline, a well-known luggage brand in the United States, which relies on a promotion on its gift card to boost sales.
Use the gift card as a marketing tool
The gift card is an excellent reward in the context of a contest. Valentine's Day is the ideal time to launch a contest on social media and create excitement around this peak period.
It can be an acquisition tool during this celebration. Peppermayo, a ready-to-wear and accessories brand, takes a different approach. It focuses on singles, who still make up 26% of those planning to do something during this festival. Through an email campaign, it offers all single customers a $30 gift card to treat themselves. A celebration of singleness and self-love.
By adopting the concept, you can launch an email campaign offering a pre-defined amount gift card (€5, €10, €20) on a minimum purchase to your customer base sensitive to good deals, even for Valentine's Day.
