Did you know early Valentine’s Day gifts were given to children to ward off sickness? How far we’ve come! Once a day dedicated to love and family in honor of St. Valentine, the popular holiday has evolved into a display of love and romance with flowers, gifts, romantic dinners, and even an “anti-Valentine” movement of self-celebration.

Which makes it tough to ignore: Valentine’s Day is a top retail holiday. It contributed about $19.6 billion to the economy in 2018, with more than half (55%) of the population getting involved, with each person spending about $143.56 (National Retail Federation). Hello shoppers! These lovers are not only looking for gifts, they are looking for inspiration: whether it be through a trusted brand or media source for direction.

Which brings us to the value of high-quality content. Shoppers are savvy and eager for information before making a purchase. As a retail store owner, you might feel that your concerns should lie more towards ensuring smooth sales, perhaps because you’re anticipating a lot of sales during any holiday season. Maybe you’ve just bought up a new store location after checking over a retail store lease overview with your attorney so you can be ready for on-the-ground shoppers. The good news is that innovative ways of operating have already begun to be prototyped on a smaller scale. Given that contactless shopping will soon become the norm, retailers might want to look to other industries that already provide similar services. Technology can also foster connections by giving every customer the impression that they have a personal shopper who has favorite items (in their size) waiting for them in a dressing room when they arrive or who can recommend similar pieces based on previous purchases. If you want to learn more about the future of the market, you can read the article about opportunities in retail and plan your business’s future accordingly. Since online shopping is likely to remain a driving factor, businesses of all sizes may be forced to reconsider how they set up their physical locations.

If you already have an efficient POS system (see https://revelsystems.com/features/reporting/ or similar pages for details) that can deal with things like check out, analysis and reports, inventory management and other such operational tasks, making the shopping experience seamless. However, since Valentines’ days is such a big holiday, your buyers would typically be looking for inspiration on what to buy, which is something they can get from your content. Even if you advertise human pheromones or something related romance to the couples who are celebrating, you can see how the demand for that particular product just rises up. Just as shoppers in the pre-internet era might turn to a trusted stylist in a department store or a discerning friend with inside scoop, shoppers now turn to blog posts, niche media outlets, and brand lookbooks for advice and guidance.

Not sure that’s true? Consider these:

• Two Thirds (⅔) of shoppers say online video has given them ideas and inspiration for their purchases (Google/Ipsos)
• When consumers read an educational article, they are 131% more inclined to buy from that company (Conductor via Forbes).
• 36.9% of those shopping for Valentine’s Day on smartphones use it for research (National Retail Federation)

And if you still are skeptical about the bottom line:

• Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to generate a positive ROI (Hubspot via Shopify)

Even as shopping becomes increasingly isolated to screens, consumers still crave a human-to-human like personalization or recommendation. Creating high-quality content, like blog posts, videos, articles, and other visual showcases offer a personal touch and a perception of expertise; a thought leader will always cut through the noise.

Bidtellect’s Top 3 KPIs for Retail Advertisers:

1. Drive Traffic to Blog Content
2. Offer-Driven Creative
3. Drive Sales

Make your Native ads a preview of what’s to come – what are you offering? Top 5 Gift Ideas for Your Picky Boyfriend? The Comfiest Pajamas for Staying In? Deliver insight and knowledge and stay true to your brand.

And don’t forget to appeal to last minute shoppers this Valentine’s Day! Last year, 1800Flowers.com saw a 30% jump in desktop conversions on February 13th compared to just a week before (Digital Commerce 360).

With high quality content, expert creative copy, and targeted placements, Valentine’s Day might be your new love affair.

Check out our Valentine’s Day Infographic for even more stats to put you ahead.

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Sources:

National Retail Federation, “Holiday and Seasonal Trends: Valentine’s Day,”

Google/Ipsos, “The Role of Digital Video in People’s Lives,” July 2018

Conductor via Forbes, “Use This Strategy To Increase Willingness To Purchase By 131 Percent,” September 2, 2017

Hubspot via Shopify, “State of Inbound 2018,” 24 April 2018

Digital Commerce 360, “Valentine’s Day 2018 online sales recap,” 12 March 2018