Valentines Day: Heart-Warming Conversion Rates

How do you convert love into sales?

Valentine’s Day is extremely close behind Black Friday in commercial hierarchy when it comes to an increase in sales for online brands. Worldwide, e-commerce retailers have been sweetening up clientele for the last month with “Will you be mine?” messaging, red and pink heart graphics, and gift guides for those last minute buyers who aren’t sure what to get their special someone, in order to convert our love for each other into profitable sales. But does it work?

Short answer? Yes. Valentine’s day is no longer reserved for only romantic love with your partner. Now we see Valentine’s Day, and its sister counterparts like Galentine’s and Pupentine’s, being about spreading love with all the people you love in your life; and even pets. This is a retailer’s dream, as it means more consumers are shopping for more individuals, leading to larger demographics and more sales, not to mention cross-selling and up-selling opportunities that become endless!

The increase in target audience, shopping basket sizes, average order value, and revenue is the cherry on top of what it this divine e-commerce dream-of-a-cake. This year it has been estimated that the UK will spend even more than the £1.37 billion spent in 2022, with the most significant spikes in online sales falling on the 2nd and 13th February - predictions based on 2022 stats which saw sales go up by a 72% average on these days alone (Wunderkind). Meaning today we will see a surge in online shopping. This is of course comparable to the £787 million that Brits spent online during the ‘virtual’ Valentine’s Day of the pandemic, when there was nothing else to do but shop online (Barclaycard).

So what are some of the valentines techniques to really boost those conversion rates? Keep reading to find out:

1. Bundles & Discounts

Brands are bundling their most-purchased products into discounted bundle sets alongside the slower moving items. Product bundling not only boosts sales, increases the average order value, and clears out slow-moving stock but it helps to encourage brand loyalty as customers associate your brand with a great deal. While retail shoppers are chuffed with their purchases, getting a great deal and wanting to come back for more, you’re cleaning your warehouse ready for new product launches and increasing your conversion rates. Some great bundles and Valentine's Day discounts we have seen include the Valentines inspired ranges from Coconut Lane and Grace Cole.

2. Personalised Upselling

Candy and flowers might be some of the most common gifts for Valentine's Day, but according to the National Retail Federation, the category that we typically spend the most on for February 14th is a girl’s best friend- that’s right, diamonds, or rather jewellery. We have secretly admired from a far the skills of brands such as Abbott Lyon who, at checkout, offer a matching product to purchase at a discounted rate because you’re a ‘special’ customer. This technique works wonders for brand loyalty as customers are seen wearing more than one piece and will keep an eye out for similar deals in the future.

3. Immersive Shopping

They say fashion brands in particular are great examples of retailers that use interactive media to showcase product usage to improve the relatability. Interactive media like videos, short clips, GIFs, banners, or live broadcasts on social media and websites can help create an engaging, immersive shopping experience for any consumer. Want an excellent way to upsell a pair of jeans? Show a video of a model wearing the matching coat walking down the streets of London; like we said people love relatability.

The next step will, of course, be a complete metaverse experience where customers physically see themselves using/wearing your products. Gucci has already organized a virtual exhibition, and fashion retailer ASOS now has simulated models on the website that you can dress up using AR. If your team isn’t immersed in the metaverse yet then you will be soon! That said, don’t dismiss the metaverse if your audience isn’t that into it quite yet. This is still a growing space for a lot of e-commerce brands, but you can still take small steps forward to make sure you won’t be left behind in a few years with immersive advertising to boost those all important conversion rates.

4. Bold Graphics

Right, you have got 60 seconds, at best, to convince your online store visitors that you’ve got what they want. What’s the best way to achieve this? Be bold! Boost engagement and click-through rates with well-designed, interactive, digital banners and graphics which grab the attention of your shoppers straight away on your homepage. This is a clever and cost-effect part of any ad strategy at Valentines to tug on those heartstrings, just make sure to keep navigation simple as navigation alone can boost conversion rates by 9.5%. We were love-struck by the bold, and rather brand differing, advertising choices of John Lewis.