Do you know that Valentine’s Day is the second biggest commercial day in terms of buying trends after Black Friday? According to the National Retail Federation, in 2019, customers spent a record-breaking $20.7 billion on Valentine’s gifts. This sounds extremely attractive to any merchant. Moreover, quite often many customers have no idea what to buy as gifts on Valentine’s Day. So, as a vendor, you have a great opportunity to help them cope with this problem thanks to product recommendations and be one of that 54% of retailers for whom this strategy has become the key driver of the AOV in the customers’ purchases.

Relevant recommendations encourage your buyers 4.5x more likely to add products to cart and complete purchases. Read on to know how to make suggestions in your online store with the ultimate guide on Valentine’s Day product recommendations. 

Winning Tactics for Valentine’s Day Suggestions

Best-Sellers

Valentine’s Day is all about searching for the best gifts for the beloved ones. It’s considered that gifts can show them love and care of gift-givers. The best way to add confidence to your buyers’ purchasing decisions and to convert first-time visitors into buyers is to recommend them best-sellers. Displaying such Valentine’s Day best-selling suggestions on the homepage is effective in hooking your customers’ attention as soon as they enter your online store.

Thus, Amazon, where 35% of the revenue is due to recommendations, offers a whole section called ‘Best Sellers on Valentine’s Day’. In this category, shoppers can find all kinds of gifts that are the most appropriate for the holiday.

Trending Products

Fashion and styles are always changing. Something that was a good idea for a present last year can be absolutely obsolete this year. That’s why one more possible gift recommendation for Valentine’s Day is fun and trending products. In this category, you can offer up-to-date and in style products that can become a good surprise for Valentine’s Day gift-receivers.

On its site, Swarovski provides buyers with ‘Valentine’s Day in Style’ category, where stylish novelties can be found. There, any gift-giver has an opportunity to choose a perfect present for a soulmate.

Gift Guides

Valentine’s Day is no longer a holiday just for couples. According to Statista, there is an increase in spending on family members and buyers themselves as 50% of them are single. Thus, it makes sense to offer non-romantic gifts on Valentine’s Day as well. It’s all can be better implemented with gift guides. You can provide your buyers with separate categories to all tastes and statuses with relevant suggestions for Valentine’s Day gift ideas.

Nordstrom is a good example of offering its customers Valentine’s Day gift guide, which includes categories Gifts for Him/Her/Kids and Gifts Under $25/$50/$100. Thus, it will be easier and quicker for shoppers not only to find a perfect gift for a certain person but in accordance with their budget.

Walmart has created a wonderful gift guide for Valentine’s Day gift seekers. The merchant knows exactly how to attract consumers with eye-catching imagery and appealing categories, such as ‘Valentine’s Day picks for all’ and ‘Gifts from the Heart’.

Interest-Based Recommendations

75% of customers do their purchases based on personalized recommendations. It’s a good chance for you to offer your subscribers personalized Valentine’s day recommendations according to their interests and browsing history. You can make these recommendations more personal by adding the buyer’s name to ‘Related to items you’ve viewed’ or ‘You May Also Like’. Such Valentine’s Day suggestions will allow customers to find products they haven’t even thought about.  

It makes sense to show these recommendations on the shopping cart page where you can entice buyers to add some relevant gifts to their purchase. Otherwise, you may integrate Valentine’s Day product recommendations into an email marketing strategy based on the content of the shopping cart or last seen items.

Thus, displaying suggestions on the product page, Claire’s doesn’t only give personalized product recommendations according to customers’ interests but also adds Valentine’s Day flair to them with the word ‘love’.

Frequently Bought Together

If you have a strong desire to increase the AOV on Valentine’s Day, ‘Frequently Bought Together’ recommendation is what you need. It’s a successful form of cross-selling which saves customers time and reminds them that they need to add some items to the main purchase.

The use of social proof in such phrases as ‘Customers who viewed this item also viewed’ can have a great impact on customers’ behavior. To make these Valentine’s Day offers even more compelling, you should present other users’ reviews.

Macy’s offers such a kind of product recommendations for this Valentine’s Day. The vendor suggests adding some related products to the main purchase from ‘Customers also loved’ and ‘Customers also shopped’ categories and provides shoppers with reviews of recent buyers.

New Arrivals

Just look at the way Carter’s provides customers with Valentine’s Day suggestions from new arrivals. A grabbing attention pink phrase ‘Lots to Love’ with hearts instead of ‘o’ letters will attract those who are in search of the best Valentine’s Day gift for kids undoubtedly.

Recommending products in the ‘New Arrivals’ category is a good way to stimulate first-time visitors to buy Valentine’s gifts from your store and improve the holiday shopping experience of loyal ones. 

Make Valentine’s Day Suggestions at the Right Place

• Homepage. 25% of first-time customers enter some online stores just to take a look at the product offerings. Their desire to buy from your store and purchasing decision can depend on the way you make recommendations. Placing Valentine’s Day gift guides, as well as best-sellers on your homepage can help you attract and retain visitors. 
• Product Pages are the best place for interest-based, and ‘customers also shopped’ recommendations because shoppers visiting product pages are still in search. Thus, it’s a chance for you to make relevant suggestions for Valentine’s Day gifts.
• Shopping Cart Page. If you want to make cross-sell or up-sell recommendations, the right moment to do it is when buyers are at their shopping cart pages. 
• Emails are the surest way to provide your buyers with Valentine’s Day gift guides and make other holiday recommendations in accordance with their searching history, interest, and items that are lastly added to the shopping cart.

Wrap Up

Product recommendations are a perfect tool to boost your sales and increase revenues on Valentine’s Day by giving your consumers what they want or even more. Providing them with personalized suggestions, you improve their holiday shopping experience and loyalty to the brand.  

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How do you recommend products for Valentine’s Day in your store?