Valentine’s Day now begins in early January with pet products and food ranking among top gifting categories, according to Klaviyo’s Jamie Domenici.
What’s happening: Valentine’s Day discounts have fallen across ecommerce, dropping from 12% last year to just over 10% this year, with health and beauty seeing cuts from 17% to around 12%. Product views are up 28% year on year as consumers browse earlier but purchase closer to February 14.
Why this matters: With Valentine’s Day expanding beyond traditional romantic gifting to include Galentine’s celebrations and self-indulgence, retailers using relevance and customer understanding are outperforming those competing purely on price.
Valentine’s Day may be circled on the calendar for February 14, but this year’s shopping behaviour reflects a broader shift in how and why consumers spend. Across ecommerce, there were fewer discounts to be had this year, with average offers down from 12% last year to just over 10% this year, according to new data from Klaviyo.
In some categories, the pullback was even more pronounced, particularly in health and beauty, where average discounts dropped from 17% to around 12%. With less room to rely on promotions, brands are focusing more on when and how they show up, using relevance, personalisation, and data to connect with consumers.
Valentine’s Day isn’t just one thing anymore. It’s no longer about buying a gift for one special someone. For some people, it’s Galentine’s Day, for others, it’s a treat-yourself moment or an excuse to do something fun. If you know which of those moments your customer is shopping for, you don’t have to rely on discounts to get their attention, said Jamie Domenici, Chief Marketing Officer at Klaviyo.
Beyond romantic clichés
Jewellery remains the most prominent Valentine’s Day category, with about 31% of campaigns referencing the holiday. What’s changed is how broadly the holiday is now defined. Food and beverage brands and pet products now rank among the most popular Valentine’s Day categories, reflecting how consumers are extending Valentine’s Day beyond traditional romantic gifting.
Product views around Valentine’s Day are up 28% year over year, showing that consumers are exploring options early, narrowing their choices, and then waiting to purchase closer to the holiday. As February 14 approaches, that browsing turns more intentional, setting the stage for a concentrated buying window.
Self-indulgence rises
Valentine’s Day is also increasingly becoming a moment to indulge yourself, alongside Galentine’s-style celebrations and traditional gifting. While planned gifts are often purchased earlier in the season, a meaningful share of buying decisions now happen on the holiday itself, reflecting more spontaneous, in-the-moment purchases.
That shift is mirrored in text messaging, which spikes on February 14, when more than 40% of campaigns reference Valentine’s Day. The data suggests brands that understand which moment their customer is shopping for can succeed without heavy discounting.
Season, not a day
Valentine’s shopping now begins almost immediately after the New Year, with brands leaning into holiday messaging in the first days of January and activity steadily building from there. This year, momentum picked up by late January, nearly three weeks before February 14, underscoring that Valentine’s has quietly become a full-season moment rather than a last-minute rush.
The pattern aligns with broader trends in retail consumer behaviour, where data-driven personalisation and understanding customer intent are replacing discount-led strategies. Brands that can identify whether shoppers are browsing for partners, friends, or themselves are finding they can drive conversions through relevance rather than price cuts alone.
The analysis examines shopping and marketing activity across Klaviyo customers during the Valentine’s Day peak shopping period, January 26 through February 14, comparing 2025 to 2026.
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