Your Heart Rules Your Head (And Your Shopping Cart)

Once officially declared by Pope Gelasius I in 496, Valentine’s Day replaced its pagan predecessor—Lupercalia festival. Despite the long heritage, the common tradition of sending love cards is dated back to Great Britain and days much more present, circa the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Nowadays pop culture tends to depict Valentine’s Day as a cracking opportunity to confess love or even propose. But how relevant is the financial context of this lovebirds’ most important festival?

We’ve surveyed over 5,600 people from 32 different countries (including Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and both Americas) to find out about the local perception of Valentine’s Day. As the lovers festival of 14th February is banned in some countries due to religious reasons—i.e. Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia—we’ve decided to omit them in this particular study. Our report is a great source of information about lovebirds’ readiness to spend money, what are the most commonly chosen gifts and their costs, and eventually—whether reality does live up to recipients’ expectations.

Valentine’s Day in Singapore

First things first, according to our research Singaporeans tend to enjoy Valentine’s Day. At least almost two thirds of them (precisely 61%). The other 39% refuse any form of celebration. Having pointed that out, these results are most likely good news for all the restaurants, cinemas or gift shop owners, as well as jewellery stores—those are in fact the most popular forms of gifts. Precisely one third of male Singaporeans will offer their soulmates a romantic date in the restaurant, 29% of men is going to choose jewellery and almost a quarter (24%) prefer cinema as their go-to option. Interestingly, most women will decide for a more personalized approach: handmade gift (33%) or Valentine’s Day card (17%) are among top female choices.

But what about the expectation itself? Which gifts would really win Singaporeans hearts? A date in the restaurant is hands down the most preferable option both for male (63%) and female (55%) part of our respondents. Should we mention that almost half of men (45%) would be over the moon receiving cash? Once again women prefer more romantic approach—travel/trip out of town (35%), cinema/theater (31%) or simply flowers (25%) would do it.

Be sure to avoid giving your beloved girlfriend a plush toy—24% of women hate them. Want to spice things up instead? Watch out—neither underwear nor sex toys work (22% of women think that’s a terrible idea for a gift). Trying to impress men? Remember that more than a quarter of them (26%) stated that a date in the restaurant is not really what they are looking for on such occasion.

Commonly singles are the most sceptical when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Although, when it comes to Singaporeans staying in relationships our study shows that 32% of men and 22% of women admitted to totally ignore Valentine’s.

It’s the Thought that Counts

According to estimations, over a billion of cards is being sent on a Valentine’s Day, just a smidgen less that during Christmas time. Beginning of February is also quite hot period for shop owners. As Picodi internal data shows a pre-Valentine’s period is characterised by an average 37% surge in demand on “Jewellery” category, 38% on “Cosmetics & Perfumes” and 45% on “Adult”.

How much money is being spent on Valentine’s Day? Our survey suggests that on average Singaporeans spend SGD 144 on their gifts. Curiously, men spend on average 62% more money—$178 comparing to $110 spend by women.

When making worldwide comparisons, Hong Kongers declare the highest amount they are willing to spend on Valentine’s Day gifts (USD185), closely followed by people from China (USD155) and the USA (USD147). Singaporeans are looking generous as well with an average of USD109 prepared for the gifts—that is 5th place out of 32 countries.

In almost every surveyed country—except Turkey, Vietnam and Nigeria—men try to impress women by spending more. Even though some researchers point out that a significant part of female population does not enjoy flowers, a nice bouquet is still 5th most popular Valentine’s Day gift in the world. Being sceptical or not, chocolate and perfume makers, restaurant and cinema owners are on top of the world during the first half of February.

Want to impress your date with a nice gift? Check out what Far East Flora, Flower Chimp, Sephora, Shopee and Lazada have to offer! With Picodi you will be able to even get some of the money back through cashback and spend it however you want.

Methodology

We’ve conducted our surveys among over 5,600 people from Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe, Australia and Oceania—a total of 32 different countries and cultures, where the tradition of Valentine’s Day is present. A part of our report is also Picodi’s internal statistic data, with reference to transactions in online shops in countries, where Picodi.com operates. While making calculations we’ve used average currency exchange rates as of January 2018.

Sources

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-valentines-day-asia-test/forbidden-love-valentines-day-banned-for-some-in-asia-idUSKBN15T1R6
• http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day
• http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/valentines-day-half-of-women-disappointed-by-flowers-gifts-a6869666.html

Fair Use Statement

Your readers are interested in how Valentine’s Day effects global trade? Great! We are looking forward to see the results of our research shared for any non commercial purpose. In order to share the above results please ensure a link back to this very page and refer Picodi.com, so that your readers can enjoy the study in its entirety and our contributors earn the proper credit for their work.