Most eCommerce brands don’t see profits on Valentine’s Day—pinning their hopes on one strategy, blindly copying competitors, and not playing to their strengths.
To avoid the same fate, check out these Valentine’s Day marketing ideas backed by real-life eCommerce examples.
16 (Economical) Valentine's Day Marketing Ideas
1. Roll out a premium collection
The average customer was expected to spend 192.80 last year and this will see an upward trend.
Rolling out premium products on account of Valentine’s Day creates exclusivity since they are limited to a particular occasion.
Danni & Toni offers a Valentine’s Day exclusive nail set on their website.
Ensure your premium products catch the eye of your shoppers:
- Use your product description to create imagery—explain how the product specs enhance your personality
- Offer gifting option on checkout plus adding a personalized message that offers a premium look
- Use 4Gift to send gifts to recipients—the recipient can either accept it for swap it for the one with equal value
2. Offer priority dispatch
Customers want to gift their loved ones the best and as early as possible.
Offer a priority dispatch. It refers to expediting shipping and delivery orders based on particular criteria—customer preferences and service level agreements.
You might want to note: priority dispatch doesn’t guarantee faster delivery but means you can jump the line ahead of others to get shipped.
Rosegal offers priority dispatch on its website as a part of the Valentine’s day campaign.
Priority dispatch doesn’t work in silos, here are a few tips you’d want to follow:
- Display priority dispatch in the above-the-fold section of your homepage
- Prioritize your order in terms of AOV, customer loyalty status, choice of shipping method, or order urgency
- Ask customers if they are willing to pay extra for priority dispatch
- Connect your site to a shipping integration—helps you automate label generation, real-time tracking updates, and troubleshoot order fulfillment issues
3. Get creative with product names
You’d be surprised to know that 77% of customers decide to buy based on the brand name alone.
Come up with creative product names for your Valentine’s Day products to create a recall. It enhances the visual image in the minds of your customers.
Shinesty has catchy names for its Valentine’s Day-themed products.
Coming up with creative names isn’t easy, here are a few pointers to help you:
- Use adjectives for your Valentine’s Day products—they bring forth the tangible value of the product
- Choose words that resonate with your audience—if you are a women’s beauty brand, Babelicious Mascara can work
- Use alliterations to become memorable—for instance, Lush lipstick or Dapper Dufflebag
4. Provide gift inspiration
It’s always hard to find gifts that make your loved ones brim with joy. That isn't any different on Valentine’s Day.
Offering gift inspiration ideas helps customers find the right choice. They are likely to listen to you as they believe you to be an authority.
Mark & Graham offers gifting ideas in its Valentine’s Day Shop. The monogram personalization that’s offered for an extra price increases tangible value.
Here’s how you can convey authority on Valentine’s Day campaigns:
- Host an Instagram Live—tips from relationship counselors and psychologists to deal with relationship problems
- Ask designers or other experts for tips to select a wonderful gift
- Run a product discovery quiz to help customers find the right products
- Offer a checklist as part of your Valentine’s Day newsletter campaign
5. Say yes to brand collaborations
The forecasted sales on Valentine’s Day in the US is $26 billion. This is an opportunity for you to collaborate with brands. It helps you in two ways—get access to other target markets and increase your brand visibility.
Plus, you can save up to 25x in advertising through brand collaboration.
Maisonette collaborates with Tammy + Nat launching pajamas for moms to twin with their little ones. This gives Tammy + Nat access to Maisonette’s adult female target audience.
Brand collaborations require deep evaluation. We recommend:
- Knowing your why—Do you share the same brand values?
- Lay down the objectives and explain what is it you want to achieve—market penetration, branding, or awareness
- Outline the terms of brand collaboration—is it a limited-edition product or a limited-time offer?
- Draft legal contracts—mention the profit sharing, responsibilities, and duration of the brand collaboration
6. Make customization easy
Product customization is an underutilized Valentine’s Day marketing idea. Interestingly, 50% of customers believe that customized products make great gifts.
Your AOV is going to see a remarkable increase as:
- 81% of customers are willing to pay extra for customized clothing
- 79% of customers are interested in paying more for customized footwear
- 77% of customers don’t mind paying extra for customized fashion accessories and jewelry
Build A Bear offers customized toys as part of its Valentine’s sale. This creates a sense of exclusivity—a compelling reason for recurring sales.
When offering product customization, keep in mind to:
- Offer additional value at little to no cost—the price shouldn’t be more than the price of the product
- Provide options to choose from—Monogram, first name, full name, or initials
- Specify the terms and conditions for returns concerning customized products
7. Provide memories to cherish
As an eCommerce brand, you can offer unique storytelling ideas for customers to treasure their love.
Wonderbly offers customers an opportunity to convey their love through storytelling. With multiple options across age groups, the brand ensures no one’s left out.
Create memorable experiences as part of your Valentine’s Day promotions:
- Host events—virtual or live offering Valentine’s Day tips
- Conduct a giveaway—movie passes, tickets to a pottery workshop, etc.
8. Take the limited edition route
Limited edition products find many takers as they are limited in supply. If the majority of your customers are between the ages of 13-39, limited edition products are your trump card.
Lucy & Co. offers limited edition Valentine’s Day dog accessories. This is a tactical marketing move as it appeals to the right emotions—the owner’s peace of mind. Plus, a dog’s well being.
Ensure your limited edition products grab the attention of customers. Start by:
- Focusing on craftsmanship
- Mentioning the real-time stock alert—include the number on the product and category pages
- Asking them to join the waitlist to generate engagement
9. Build the buzz with pre-orders
Pre-orders can help you generate sales for your Valentine’s Day promotions with additional efforts on marketing. They pick up steam from the get go with a study revealing that 30% of pre-orders are made on the first day.
Millie & Dot takes pre-orders for their family fabric cloth as part of their Valentine’s Day marketing campaign.
Pre-order campaigns aren’t going to be fruitful, unless:
- Take note of inventory levels—ensure you can cater to the supply
- Explain the benefits of pre-ordering—early access, early bird pricing, etc.
You'd also like to read: 15 Top Examples of eCommerce Teaser Emails (+ Templates)
10. Add personality to your offerings
You know your target audience well and what they like. Tailoring your Valentine’s Day advertising campaign according to the characteristic traits of your target audience increases your chances of success. It could either be content or products.
Lush Cosmetics targets its target demographic of well-educated women in the 18-25 age group. They are strong, independent and know how to pamper themselves.
On the surface, personality marketing can be tough, the below tips can help you:
- If your customers have a high empathy—show how your brand is contributing to cancer
- If you’re adventure and fun brand—host a fun 5k or 10k run for couples
- If you seek continuous improvement, ask for feedback and reward users with an incentive
11. Set your sights on the right audience
For better sales, you might want to refine your audience segments. Here’s what studies reveal:
a. Men spend more than women
In a study by Finder, it was found that men spent $11.4 billion on Valentine’s Day gifts as opposed to $7.8 billion spent by women.
On average, men were anticipated to spend $225.49 while women planned to spend $147.42.
To find which gender spent more:
Head to GA4, User > User attributes > Overview > Add comparison > Dimension > Demographics > Gender > Match type > exactly matches > male
b. Age group
While the age group 35-44 spent $142.91 more than other age groups on Valentine’s Day, this might not be the case with you. Do a comparative analysis in GA4.
Head to GA4, User > User attributes > Overview > Add comparison > Dimension > Demographics > Age > Match type > exactly matches > Select dimension value
c. Go after last-minute shoppers
Last-minute shoppers look to buy from stores where shipping is offered just before the D-day. You can offer product bundles, curbside or buy-online-pickup-in store services. Don’t forget BNPL payment options.
d. Past Valentine’s Day customers
Take a look at previous Valentine’s Day customers. Analyze their post-purchase experience, AOV and RPV. Send targeted emails based on their previous purchases and suggest product recommendations.
12. Send your emails early
Over the years, customers in the US began shopping for Valentine’s Day in the last week of January. Here are a few tips you’ll find handy:
- Send a kickoff email in the last week of January announcing limited-time offers and early access deals
- Send a second email in the first week of February—include gift guides, product bundles, and customized deals
- Send the third email containing flash sales, limited edition products, and tiered discounts
- Send during the right time—the best time for eCommerce is 10 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Don't forget to check out 32 Amazing Valentine’s Day Email Examples (eCommerce)
13. Think mobile first
76% of adults use mobile phones to shop online. This makes it important for mobile UX to be pleasant.
Start by working on these things:
- Focus on designing for the thumb—place the scrollbar and CTAs in the easy-reach zone
- Make tapping easier—Google recommends 48x48dp with a gap of 8dp or more
- Make navigation easier using vertical navigation—this works for desktops and adapts to mobile easily
- Make space for breadcrumbs—leave negative space for tapping, use a visual cue to highlight, avoid overstuffing categories, etc
- Have a prominent search bar—enable autocomplete options, visual search, and product suggestions on spelling mistakes
- Keep customers in the loop with load indicators—use these to ensure that to validate an action
- Ensure you use the right keyboard for the right field—use a Luhn’s check validator keyboard for the credit card field and a numeric one for phone numbers
14. Start early on social media
If a major chunk of your audience is highly active on social media, you might want to work on your social media game.
Try these awesome social media ideas:
- Create a series of tips for every day of the Valentine’s week
- Host a giveaway to a lucky winner—Ask them to submit a caption
- Do an Instagram reel using a trending hashtag—the one with the most audience ratings is the winner
- Do an Instagram live session—for instance, you could host a yoga session or get a stylist to offer some twinning tips
- Ask your customers to share stories of what Valentine’s Day means to them
- Run a ‘How well do you know each other?’ contest—Both partners have to participate in the contest and tag your post within a deadline
15. Give back to the community
It’s more important than ever for brands to associate with a cause. Interestingly, 86% of customers are highly likely to purchase from purpose-driven brands.
Besides, authentic brands who commit to a cause are rewarded with increased respect and greater profits—known as the Noble Edge Effect.
Pura Vida is contributing 5% of its purchase to the American Red Cross on the purchase of its Valentine’s Day collection products.
To demonstrate accountability in your Valentine’s Day cause marketing efforts:
- Inform customers—mention how much of the proceeds will be donated to a cause
- Display your progress and the changes effected as a result of your donation
- Add a certification from highly accredited organizations for credibility
- Send regular updates about the impact created and the outcome
16. Encourage spending with Tiered discounts
Encouraging customers to spend more is easier with tiered discounts. In a tiered discount, customers are offered a discount when they exceed a certain price threshold. On meeting the threshold, they move to the next tier.
For instance, 10% off $40, 20% off $60, and 30% off $90 is a tiered discount.
To make your Valentine’s Day tiered discounts compelling:
- Use a percentage-off discount for products under $100 and dollar off discount for products above $100
- Use a countdown timer to reinforce the urgency
- Offer a promo code to prompt customers and reduce apprehension
- Highlight the discount in bold to grab the attention of your visitors
Read more:
13 Most Common Valentine’s Day Mistakes in eCommerce
FAQs
1. What businesses do well on Valentine's Day?
Traditionally, here is a list of businesses that do well on Valentine’s Day:
- Greeting cards—$933 million
2. What are most consumers buying for Valentine's Day?
According to NRF, here’s a list of products customers buy for Valentine’s Day. These include:
Bottomline
Your Valentine’s Day campaign will start well. But there’s a bigger problem.
98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything.
Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.
And this is the problem Convertcart solves.
We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.
How we can help you:
Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.
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