Posted by: Richie Bernardo

As the saying goes, “money can’t buy love,” but it certainly can express it. This year, Americans collectively will spend $19.6 billion on Valentine’s day gifts — from greeting cards to jewelry to a special night out — with the average lovebird shelling out $143.56.

But you don’t need to empty your wallet just to show your romantic side. Depending on where you go and what you do, a sweet evening can be inexpensive and still have the same quality. You just need to be in the right place with the right budget.

With love in the air, WalletHub played cupid to determine the most romantic and cost-effective cities for celebrating Valentine’s Day. We compared 100 of the largest U.S. cities across 23 key metrics, ranging from florists per capita to forecasted precipitation to cost of a three-course meal for two. Read on for the winners, more insight from a panel of experts, and a full description of our methodology. For interesting stats about the holiday, check out WalletHub’s Valentine’s Day Fun Facts infographic.

1. Main Findings
2. Ask the Experts
3. Methodology

Main Findings

Embed on your website<iframe src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/embed/10056/geochart-valentine.html" width="556" height="347" frameBorder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <div style="width:556px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="http://ift.tt/2sbtXoa>  

Overall Rank	City	Total Score	‘Budget’ Rank	‘Activities’ Rank	‘Gift Accessibility’ Rank	‘Weather Forecast’ Rank
98	Detroit, MI	31.69	96	57	97	59
99	Newark, NJ	29.57	97	55	98	78
100	Hialeah, FL	28.25	99	86	61	16

 

Ask the Experts

Planning a date or buying gifts on Valentine’s Day shouldn’t break the bank. You can display your affection for that special someone while remaining smart about your finances. To help consumers stay within their budgets this year, we turned to a panel of experts for their thoughts on the following key questions:

1. What can Valentine’s Day spending trends tell us about consumer confidence and the health of the overall economy?
2. What are some tips for celebrating Valentine’s Day on a budget?
3. Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year. How might this impact how people plan to celebrate?
4. Who spends more on Valentine’s Day, men or women?
5. What post-Valentine’s Day deals should savvy shoppers take advantage of?

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• Kiran Karande Associate Dean and Professor of Marketing in the Strome College of Business at Old Dominion University
• Gabriela (Gabbie) Tonietto Assistant Professor of Marketing at Rutgers Business School – Newark and New Brunswick
• Robert Paul Jones Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Retail Enterprises at the The University of Texas at Tyler
• Katrijn Gielens Associate Professor of Marketing and Sarah Graham Kenan Scholar in the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Archana Kumar Associate Professor of Marketing in the Feliciano School of Business at Montclair State University

Kiran Karande Associate Dean and Professor of Marketing in the Strome College of Business at Old Dominion University

What can Valentine’s spending trends tell us about consumer confidence and the health of the overall economy?

Consumer spending should be higher when consumers feel confident and the economy is doing well. Research done by the National Retail Federation (NRF) has found that consumers spent $18.3 billion on Valentine’s Day in 2017, which was slightly lower than that in the previous two years, but was significantly higher than consumer spending between 2009 and 2011, when the economy was weak. So, the economy does make a difference.

With Valentine’s Day spending, there are two opposing trends at work, the state of the U.S. economy and demographics. During better economic times, a higher percentage of the population plans to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and the average spending by such consumers is higher as well. As consumers have greater buying power, they are likely to spend more. They may buy more candy and flowers, but might also prefer to trade up to relatively higher-priced products and services. For example, they may think about purchasing a spa or yoga voucher for their loved one instead of going for a movie. Of course, increased advertising and promotional deals by retailers and service providers help entice consumers to spend more.

In contrast, some demographic trends negatively impact Valentine’s Day spending. For example, younger consumers are likely to celebrate Valentine’s Day and spend more; thus, with an aging U.S. population, overall Valentine’s Day spending can be expected to reduce.

It remains to be seen how these two opposing forces will work this year. Overall, I would say that consumer confidence and the economy does reflect Valentine’s Day spending by consumers.

Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year -- how might this impact how people plan to celebrate?

Think about what Valentine’s Day means to people. Valentine’s Day is a reason to show love, affection, and intimacy to your close ones. In addition to their spouse and partner, for many this includes their kids, parents, siblings, and grandparents. Right from elementary school, the importance of Valentine’s Day has been ingrained into us with the sharing of cards and candies.

Like every year, consumers will spend a lot on products and services that signify love and affection such as candy, greeting cards, an evening out, flowers, and jewelry. They will also spend substantial sums of money on other services including movies, restaurants, travel, and certificates for personal services, such as spas.

Many of these products and services will not be negatively impacted by Valentine’s Day falling on a Wednesday, but expenditures on certain activities, such as going out for movies, theater, parks, and restaurants may be affected slightly. While some may have early dinners and make advance reservations, others may decide to celebrate at home. This year, there is a lot of help from grocery stores, the food network, and even ready-to-cook meal delivery services, such as Hello Fresh and Blue Apron, to make cooking at home fun and easy. Also, with easy access to entertainment due to Netflix, Hulu, and others, celebrating at home is an option some may consider.

Overall, I don’t think Valentine’s Day being on a Wednesday will dampen the spirit.

Gabriela (Gabbie) Tonietto Assistant Professor of Marketing at Rutgers Business School – Newark and New Brunswick

What can Valentine’s spending trends tell us about consumer confidence and the health of the overall economy?

Research shows that by and large, experiences make us happier. So, step one, if money is tight, give the gift of experiences rather than material objects. Your money will go further in terms of happiness. If you do choose to buy material goods, your partner may get more happiness from it if the item is very connected to the specific occasion. Research finds that the more the gift reminds us of the occasion and the person that gave it to us, the more we’ll get happiness from using it and remembering the occasion and the person that gave it to us. One way to do this might be as simple as writing the date on part of the gift to help remind your partner.

When we are young, we tend to really care about once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but as we get older, research shows that we still get a lot of happiness from more everyday and familiar experiences. So, for couples that have been together a while, it's okay to keep Valentine's Day quiet and engage in ordinary things together. You can still get a lot of happiness from watching your favorite movie as a couple and spending time relaxing together.

Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year -- how might this impact how people plan to celebrate?

Some of my own research shows that as consumers, we don’t like to feel like we have a "hard stop" to our activities, let alone our celebrations. Having to work the next day and thinking about what time we should reasonably go to bed to get up in the morning can put a damper on things. It can make us feel like we have less time to celebrate (even if we would stop celebrating around the same time anyway). As a result, some consumers may choose to celebrate on the weekend rather than the day of.

Because Wednesday night may not feel like a "date night" to many consumers, they may choose to celebrate at home, more so than if the holiday fell on a weekend. If you are thinking of staying in, that can still be very enjoyable. You may even get more enjoyment because plans at home are often more flexible than plans that involve going out. My research shows that scheduling can reduce enjoyment by making experiences feel too rigid and inflexible. Being impromptu or keeping plans tentative can lead to greater enjoyment. So, the fact that Valentine's falls on a Wednesday this year may help consumers to avoid the temptation to over-schedule their celebration.

What post-Valentine’s Day deals should savvy shoppers take advantage of?

As with many seasonal products, Valentine's candy and toys will be deeply discounted the day after.

Robert Paul Jones Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Retail Enterprises at the The University of Texas at Tyler

What can Valentine’s spending trends tell us about consumer confidence and the health of the overall economy?

Overall, the U.S. consumer market is showing no signs of backing down from its breathless holiday spending. And most anticipate to see a similar 5-6 percent increase in Valentine’s day spending over 2017, to approximately $19.3 billion. Perhaps more importantly, we are seeing increased spending and increased participation in jewelry purchasing. As a leading indicator of economic downturns and a lagging indicator of economic upturns, solid jewelry sales mean strong confidence in the economy. This is particularly important, as we are seeing the millennial population beginning to really engage with the jewelry industry, which is a sure sign of confidence from an increasingly important demographic.

What are some tips for celebrating Valentine’s Day on a budget?

Dining out this year is difficult, as both the weekend before and after will be fair game for Valentine’s day, so busier and more expensive will rule the day. So, for a budget-friendly dining experience to celebrate the holiday, try dining at home. Make a fun night of preparing the meal, have some great wine and cocktails and save a bundle. Look for pre-ordering flowers online, warehouse clubs or big-box stores. Millennials are all about the experience, and nothing beats the great outdoors. Plan a fun outdoor activity, pack a fancy picnic with the beverage of choice and take it all in.

Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year -- how might this impact how people plan to celebrate?

With Valentine’s Day falling mid-week, the weekend before and after will both be in play for dinner reservations. Like Mother’s Day, these are often disappointing dining experiences, because they are so busy. I would expect that a strong push towards brunch as an option will help lift some of the burden off of weekend dining. I also think you will see an expanded Valentine celebration. Men (and women) will not be off the hook to celebrate in some fashion on the day. So, expect an uptick in purchasing, as cards, chocolates, jewelry, and flowers may get an extra buy in addition to dining, to cover day and weekend celebrations.

Who spends more on Valentine’s Day, men or women?

Men unequivocally outspend women, by nearly double. The overall average of what consumers who celebrate the holiday (approximately 53 percent of us) will spend in 2018 is projected at $144.76. In that number, men will spend approximately $200.00, while women will approach $100.00. However, the real story is in how they spend. Women tend to cast a wider net when considering who to shop for. They may opt to include friends, relatives, co-workers, and pets in addition to their significant other, while men tend to zero in only on their significant other. This provides a great opportunity for retailers to provide great gift ideas for women, which will help satisfy their more varied holiday spending.

What post-Valentine’s Day deals should savvy shoppers take advantage of?

If it is red, red and white, has a heart on it, or is shaped like a heart, the time is now. Whether it is apparel, decorations, home décor, kitchen supplies, gift supplies, you name it -- it’s all on sale. In non-specialty stores, chocolate and candy with a Valentine’s theme will all be discounted. Nothing wrong with buying M&M’s on the cheap. The great news is, red can be used as an accent in most homes and decorations will work for next Christmas, as well.

Katrijn Gielens Associate Professor of Marketing and Sarah Graham Kenan Scholar in the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

What can Valentine’s spending trends tell us about consumer confidence and the health of the overall economy?

One of the most important consumer trends that you observe globally is that people prefer to spend more on experiences (eating out, travel, life events, etc.) than on products. Valentine’s day is most definitely an occasion where shared experiences with a significant other may be appreciated even more. Whereas eating out was already a very obvious Valentine’s Day favorite, travel/event-related gift vouchers are bound to become more popular gifts. The nice side effect of vouchers or vent tickets is that it doesn’t really matter what day of the week Valentine’s Day falls on. People may simply prefer experiencing the actual event together at a time most convenient to both of them.

I don’t think that (when not in a recession) changes (or decreases) in typical Valentine’s gift spending necessarily reflect the health of the economy, but are a better indicator of this general “Zeitgeist,” whereby people prioritize “doing things together” over typical, product-based gifts.

What post-Valentine’s Day deals should savvy shoppers take advantage of?

As for budget-related trends, I think it may be useful to look into all “cut-the-middlemen” initiatives. The best know, example is, of course, Warby Parker, but you see the same concept spreading in almost every product category. Especially typical luxury (and traditionally more expensive) goods tend to attract a lot of start-ups. Just to give a couple of examples:

• Apparel -- Everlane.com, Beckett Simonon (men’s shoes), J. Hilburn (suits, etc.), American Giant (hoodies), Naadam (cashmere sweaters);
• Personal care -- Harry’s (grooming), Beauty Pie (cosmetics -- Vogue described it as “selling luxury lipstick for less than your daily latte”), Public Goods;
• Chocolates -- Taza, Askinosie.

These are just a couple of examples of companies that explicitly convey the message that they can keep their prices substantially below typical retail prices, because there are no markups involved, and that may offer products that people may want to gift.

Archana Kumar Associate Professor of Marketing in the Feliciano School of Business at Montclair State University

What can Valentine’s spending trends tell us about consumer confidence and the health of the overall economy?

Valentine’s Day is the first big consumer-spending event after the holidays. If consumers had a stressful financial health the previous year, it could very likely impact their spending on Valentine’s Day. On the contrary, if they are liberal with spending during the initial part of the year, it is a sign of better things to come for retailers.

Also, I think this year will be big for spending on Valentine’s Day gifts for pets. Lots of mainstream retailers are promoting this product category for Valentine’s Day, and it has caught on in the past couple of years.

What are some tips for celebrating Valentine’s Day on a budget?

Skip the check-out counter at regular stores. Consumers these days, especially millennials, are favoring experiences over material things. Since it falls on a weeknight, even something simple as cooking together (using pre-measured ingredients from services such as Blue Apron) could be budget-friendly, and a more memorable experience than going to an expensive restaurant. Or a “sip-and-paint” night could be a fun idea.

Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year -- how might this impact how people plan to celebrate?

Since it falls on a weekday, people might reschedule it for the weeknight, especially if they are looking to go out. If they are planning to buy a gift, it’s not likely to affect spending.

Who spends more on Valentine’s Day, men or women?

From previous spending reports, men have typically spent more on this holiday, with purchases leading in the categories of candy, flowers, and jewelry.

Methodology

In order to determine the best cities for Valentine’s Day, WalletHub compared 100 of the most populated cities across four key dimensions: 1) Budget, 2) Activities, 3) Gift Accessibility and 4) Weather Forecast. Our sample considers only city proper in each case and excludes cities in the surrounding metro area.

We evaluated the four dimensions using 23 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for celebrating Valentine’s Day. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), we used the square root of the population to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities.

We then determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its total score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Budget – Total Points: 50

Note: All of the following cost metrics were adjusted for the median household income of the city.

• Average Ticket Price for Valentine’s Day Party: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)
• Cost of Three-Course Meal for Two: Double Weight (~12.5 Points)
• Prevalence of Affordable 4.5+ Star Restaurants: Full Weight
• Average Movie-Ticket Price: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)
• Average Beverage Price: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)
• Beauty-Salon Costs: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)
• Taxi-Fare Cost: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)
• Lowest Price for Three-Star Hotel Room: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)

Activities – Total Points: 20

• Restaurants per Capita*: Double Weight (~5.71 Points)
• Diversity of Restaurants: Full Weight
• Cafés per Capita*: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
• Number of Attractions: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
• Nightlife Options per Capita*: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
• Walkability: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
• Amusement & Entertainment: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)

Gift Accessibility – Total Points: 20

• Jewelry Stores per Capita*: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Florists per Capita*: Full Weight (~4 .00 Points)
• Chocolate Shops per Capita*: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Greeting-Card Stores & Gift Shops per Capita*: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Wellness & Spa Centers per Capita*: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Google Search Index for “Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas”

Weather Forecast – Total Points: 10

• Difference Between Forecasted and Normal Temperatures on Valentine’s Day: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
• Forecasted Precipitation for Valentine’s Day: Double Weight (~6.67 Points)

 

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Council for Community and Economic Research, Numbeo, Kayak.com, Walkscore.com, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Eventbrite AccuWeather and WalletHub research.

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