Canadians Prove Their Love This Valentine's Day: Retail Council of Canada
54% of Canadians Intend to Give Candy and Chocolates to their Loved Ones
Toronto, February 9, 2007 – When it comes to Valentine's Day, Canadians like to show affection for all of the important people in their lives, and this year it's no different. According to a new study conducted for Retail Council of Canada by POLLARA, 81% of Canadians intend to show their spouse or partner they care on February 14, while 52% of Canadians plan to show other family members, including children, just how much they appreciate them.
While the average expected Valentine's Day spending on gifts is $92.30, the traditional gifts of cards, candy and flowers continue to be perennial favourites, proving you don't have to spend lots of money to show how much you appreciate those who mean most to you. As the survey indicates, 64% of Canadians plan to communicate these feelings through cards and special wishes this Valentine's Day.
"Valentine's Day is not just for the romantics - it's truly about recognizing all of the important people in your life and the valuable support they provide. In fact, as the survey indicates, 38% of those Canadians who are not in a romantic relationship are still planning on showering those they love with tokens of affection," says Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada.
"While the traditional gifts of cards, candy/chocolates and flowers remain Valentine's Day favourites, the rising popularity of gift cards is apparent with 5% of Canadians intending to purchase this option, versus 3% a year ago," says Martin Hrobsky, Senior Research Analyst, POLLARA.
Highlights of the survey include:
Valentine's Day Across Canada
- Similar to last year, Canadians between the ages of 35-44 are the most likely to give gifts to others this Valentine's Day (68%), whereas Canadians aged 65+ are the least likely to do so (50%).
- Residents of the Prairie provinces and Ontario are the most likely to give Valentine's Day gifts to others (62% and 60% respectively), followed by residents of Quebec (58%).
- Residents of British Columbia are the least likely to give gifts (44%).
- Like last year, residents of Ontario are the country's biggest Valentine's Day spenders, spending an average of $111 per person, compared to the residents of the Atlantic provinces who intend to spend the least on gifts ($63).
- Canadians who are in a long-term relationship (five to 10 years) expect to spend the most on gifts for their loved ones this Valentine's Day ($149 on average), followed by those Canadians in a new relationship (three to six months) who also intend to spend a large amount on gifts ($101) — which means they still must be in the honeymoon phase!
What Canadians Are Buying this Valentine's Day
- Traditional gifts such as cards, candy/chocolates and flowers remain perennial favourites for Valentine's Day:
- 64% of Canadians will purchase a Valentine's Day card(s) and will spend an average of $8
- 54% of Canadians plan to give candy/chocolates to their loved ones and intend to spend an average of $32
- 34% of Canadians will buy flowers to mark this special day and will spend an average of $29
- Taking out a loved one to a restaurant also appears to be a popular option with 27% of Canadians planning to go out for a meal and spending an average of $64.
- Although Canadians intend to spend approximately the same amount on Valentine's Day gifts as last year — $92.30 in 2007, versus $92.59 in 2006 - they expect to spend different amounts on specific items.
- This year, Canadians have indicated that they plan to spend $56 less on jewelry and plan to spend $12 more on candy/chocolates, compared to the previous year.
The Recipients
- The majority, 84%, of Canadians plan to give a Valentine's Day gift to their spouse/partner, but giving gifts to other family members, including children, is also very popular at 43%.
- In fact, 38% of those Canadians who are not in a romantic relationship are still planning on showering those they love with tokens.
Gift Cards
- Gift cards continue to grow in popularity. This year, 5% of Canadians intend to purchase an electronic gift card this Valentine's Day.
- This marks an increase from the 3% cited in the 2006 Valentine's Day survey.
> For detailed research tables, click here.
About the Study
These are the findings of a Retail Council of Canada/POLLARA poll conducted from Feb. 2 to Feb. 6, 2007. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1,885 adult Canadians was polled through an online omnibus. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to ±2.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data. The actual results of Valentine's Day sales may differ/vary from the intentions stated in these findings.
About Retail Council of Canada
Retail Council of Canada (www.retailcouncil.org) is the Voice of Retail. It is a not-for-profit association representing more than 40,000 stores of all retail formats, including independent merchants, regional and national mass and specialty chains, and online merchants.
About POLLARA
POLLARA (www.pollara.ca), the largest Canadian public opinion and marketing research firm, helps its clients improve their performance through strategic research designed and analyzed by consultants who are experts in their fields. Drawing on the talents of more than 650 employees located in 6 cities, POLLARA provides a full range of research services to leading global, national, and local companies and to public and non-profit sector organizations.
For more information:
Stephanie Petroff
Tel.: (888) 373-8245, ext. 228
E-mail: spetroff@retailcouncil.org
POLLARA
Martin Hrobsky
Tel.: (416) 921-0090
E-mail: mhro@pollara.ca