• Despite a 5% decline in overall retail traffic leading up to Valentine's Day, apparel and jewelry sectors outperformed the national average, showcasing resilience amid a broader spending slowdown.
• Apparel's standout performance, with a 3.6% increase on Valentine's Day, suggests a focus on personal and experiential gifts, likely driven by date-night preparations.
• Last-minute day-of Valentine's shopping proved to be consistent with the previous year, experiencing a minor 1.6% decline. Apparel and Health & Beauty sectors enjoyed positive trends, while Jewelry's performance was slightly better than the overall U.S. average.

RetailNext, recognized as "the pulse of the store" with its leading in-store analytics used by 450+ top retail brands, today shared initial traffic insights from Valentine's Week 2024. While overall retail traffic dipped by about 5% in the buildup to Valentine's Day, certain sectors demonstrated resilience, with apparel and jewelry showing less of a decline compared to the national average, indicating a focused consumer interest in these categories.

RetailNext's analysis of how different sectors performed during this shopping period found:

Feb. 4 – Feb. 14, 2024 vs. Feb. 5 – Feb. 15, 2023

• U.S. Overall: -5.4%
• Apparel: -0.8%
• Footwear: -6.5%
• Health & Beauty: -7.4%
• Home: -14.6%
• Jewelry: -3.7%

Feb. 4 – Feb. 10, 2024 vs. Feb. 5 – Feb. 11, 2023

• U.S. Overall: -5.7%
• Apparel: -1.3%
• Footwear: -7.3%
• Health & Beauty: -8.2%
• Home: -15.3%
• Jewelry: -5.5%

Feb. 11 – Feb. 14, 2024 vs. Feb. 12 – Feb. 15, 2023

• U.S. Overall: -4.5%
• Apparel: 0.8%
• Footwear: -4.8%
• Health & Beauty: -5.6%
• Home: -12.7%
• Jewelry: -0.5%

Feb. 14, 2024 vs. Feb. 14, 2023

• U.S. Overall: -1.6%
• Apparel: 3.6%
• Footwear: -4.6%
• Health & Beauty: 5.0%
• Home: -8.0%
• Jewelry: -1.4%

"These findings highlight the enduring appeal of personal and thoughtful gifts, with health and beauty, especially, seeing a strong finish on Valentine's Day itself, despite an overall challenging retail environment," said Joe Shasteen, Global Manager, Advanced Analytics at RetailNext. "The increase in apparel traffic on Valentine's Day itself suggests that consumers were making last-minute purchases for special outfits, likely driven by plans for evenings out or intimate gatherings, reinforcing the trend that experiences are becoming an increasingly important part of Valentine's Day celebrations."

RetailNext's findings align closely with the NRF's pre-Valentine's Day survey, which revealed that many consumers favored budget-friendly gifts such as candy, greeting cards, flowers, with a significant number also opting for jewelry (22 percent) and clothing (21 percent). The survey anticipated record-breaking spending in these categories, projecting expenditures of $6.4 billion on jewelry, $3 billion on clothing, and $4.9 billion on evenings out. This consumer spending behavior mirrors the increases in foot traffic observed in the jewelry and apparel sectors, underscoring the lasting appeal of these traditional Valentine's gifts even in a year marked by overall spending restraint.

For more information on RetailNext and the company’s recent data trends, visit here.

Methodology

This analysis is based on data collected from U.S. retail stores operating on the RetailNext platform. The data reflects in-store trends across a wide variety of retail segments, from major big-box brands to standalone and specialty retail operations. The comparison period spans from February 4 to February 14, 2024, against the same timeframe in 2023, ensuring a year-over-year analysis of foot traffic and consumer behavior trends. Percent changes are based on traffic for those stores this year compared to those same stores last year.