Valentine’s Day is upon us and it’s a key trading period for many retailers, including Debenhams.

Over the past three years we have cemented our position as a destination for gifts – it plays very much to our strength and has been significantly helped by our ‘Found It’ advertising campaign at Christmas.

This strength in gifts also comes into its own for events like Valentine’s Day.

“We expect shoppers to make the most of multichannel. Next day delivery and click-and-collect account for more than 50% of orders over Valentine’s week”

How consumers are shopping at Valentine’s Day is changing. Traditional gifts like chocolates and flowers are falling out of favour, and people are looking for something a bit more imaginative for their loved ones.

We’re seeing shoppers looking to give more adventurous gift sets in areas like lingerie.

Debenhams' launched a Valentine's drive thru service last week in Manchester

Debenhams’ Valentine’s drive thru

Debenhams’ launched a Valentine’s drive thru service last week in Manchester

We expected increased interest in this category for Valentine’s Day thanks to the latest film Fifty Shades Darker and our exclusive ranges with B by Ted Baker and Reger by Janet Reger put us in a good position to capitalise.

We also expect to see a huge leap in fragrance – led by the big premium houses – but also cosmetics with people prepping for the biggest date night of the year. Again our exclusive ranges with Kat Von D and Make Up For Ever lead the way here.

The multichannel effect

We ensured shoppers are able to browse from a curated range of exciting gift ideas across a host of premium brands, both in store and online.

We expect shoppers to make the most of multichannel. Next day delivery and click-and-collect account for more than 50% of orders over Valentine’s week.

In the age of multichannel shopping, customers can find and get imaginative gifts more easily than before. So there really is no excuse for that last minute bunch of flowers from the garage forecourt.

Debenhams wants to make finding that perfect gift as easy as possible for shoppers. Last week we even test drove a drive-thru Valentine’s gift service outside our Trafford Centre store in Manchester to make it even easier for customers.

Going forward, we will continue to look at how we can make the shopping experience simpler and more exciting for customers across all of our channels.

By making Valentine’s shopping not only exciting but also easy for the increasingly time-poor shopper, retailers will gain many new admirers during this romantic sales event.