Valentine’s Day shoppers predicted to make last minute fragrance dash

Published: 13-Feb-2013

NPD warns retailers not to be “lulled into false sense of security”


Fragrance counters may experience an influx of shoppers in the final days leading up to Valentine’s Day, the NPD Group has predicted.

If shoppers follow last year’s trend, then growth is expected for all fragrance segments in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, as men and women make a last minute dash for the fragrance counter to pick up a present for their loved ones. In 2012, scores of shoppers delayed their purchases leading to a sales rise of 27% on the previous year to £16.3m, in the week preceding Valentine’s Day.

Despite traditional stereotypes, last year’s data suggested that women are in fact the ones leaving their shopping until the last minute; in 2012 there was a 35% increase in revenues for men’s fragrances, compared with 21% in women’s fragrances, during the week of Valentine’s Day. This was also reflected in the purchase of gift sets, with men’s sets rising by 22%, while women’s sets only rose 16% in the same period.

June Jensen, Director for NPD Group Beauty UK, says: “Valentine’s Day is traditionally a peak time for the prestige beauty market – and fragrance in particular. This year we expect to see the continuation of the trend of consumers doing their gift buying much closer to the day. Although we expect to see a significant decline in sales in the week preceding Valentine’s Day, come the Monday, Tuesday and even Wednesday, last minute romantics will be ducking out of the office at lunchtime to pick up a fragrance for the man or woman in their life.

“However, retailers must not be lulled into a false sense of security by a late sales surge for Valentine’s Day. NPD Group data suggests that as Mother’s Day follows so close on the heels of February 14th this year, brands and retailers have really got their work cut out to make sure that mum doesn’t wake up to a big disappointment this Mothering Sunday.”

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