The FINANCIAL — Over half of UK adults (52%) don’t plan to buy a gift for their loved one this Valentine’s Day, according to a poll of more than 2,000 people conducted for PwC. Almost half (48%) are not even planning to buy a card.
For those who do decide to treat their partner to something, they are most likely to select small personal gifts such as handmade items (21%) even though more people hope to be wined and dined or whisked away, with 29% of people surveyed preferring a gift relating to travel or leisure.
The average amount people expect to spend on Valentine’s Day stands at £29.89, up from £26.69 last year. However, it does appear the price of love is higher for men, who say they expect to spend nearly twice as much as women (£39.70 vs. £20.42). From the UK national average spend figure, we’ve calculated that a total of £458.7 million could be spent on Valentine’s Day this year.
Commenting on the Valentine’s Day survey results, Madeleine Thomson, retail and consumer leader at PwC, said: “More than half of UK adults say they won’t be loosening the purse strings to tug on the heartstrings this year. They don’t plan to buy a Valentine’s Day gift, and nearly half say they won’t be buying a card.
“For Valentine’s Day purchases, consumers do still seem to prefer the high street experience to shopping online. Our survey reveals that 49% of people who plan to buy something for Valentine’s Day plan to do so in store, compared to 30% on laptop or desktop.”
The survey findings show that nearly half (49%) of UK adults consider themselves to be romantic, with 18-34 year olds scoring themselves highest (53%). Across the United Kingdom, it is people living in the West Midlands who believe they are the most romantic (56%). Only 43% of those in Scotland and the East of England consider themselves to be romantic.
