The holiday falls on a Sunday this year, making consumers more likely to spend on restaurant dinners-for-two and romantic weekends away than gifts.
A new forecast for Valentine's Day spending from Los Angeles-based IBISWorld includes both good news and bad news. The good news is total Valentine's Day spending is expected to increase 3.3 percent to $17.6 billion across formats. The bad news? Most of the gains are expected to occur in the hotel and restaurant sector rather than retail.
"Because Valentine's Day lands on a Sunday, restaurants are likely to gain traffic throughout the entire weekend," said Toon van Beeck, senior IBISWorld analyst. "Furthermore, because President's Day is on the following Monday, many consumers will be able to travel over the three-day weekend."
As a result, IBISWorld said it expects consumer spending on dining out and "romantic getaways" to increase 8.2 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, from 2009 levels, while spending on candy (-1.3 percent), jewelry (-4.6 percent) and flowers (-4.9 percent) is likely to decline. Spending on greeting cards (+1.8 percent) and clothing/intimate apparel (+1.8 percent) is expected remain relatively steady.
According to the report, men typically buy candy, flowers and jewelry during the week before Valentine's Day, but since the holiday falls on a Sunday, they will not feel as much pressure to purchase in advance of the big event. And since they are not as likely to take time on the weekend to shop, they probably will opt for a romantic dinner out instead.
"Many retailers see Valentine's Day as an opportunity to kick-start the New Year, but the unemployment rate and continued uncertainty of the economic recovery will hamper growth and expansion," van Beeck explained.
For more information, call 800-330-3772 or visit http://www.ibisworld.com.
