British shoppers spent more than £104 million (€119.5 million) on fresh cut flowers for Valentine's Day this year, according to February sales data from Nielsen.
The research firm also found that shoppers spent more than £26.5 million on gift cards, a 13% increase on last year, as well as spending more on confectionery (+4.8%), bath and shower products (+11%) and pre-mixed alcoholic drinks (+10%).
The data for the four-week period showed a 0.7% increase in total till sales across the UK grocery market.
FMCG sales at the biggest four supermarkets also returned to growth over the past four weeks, Nielsen said, despite sales in general merchandise declining by 2.9%.
'Green Shoots'
“British grocery retailers will be pleased that since experiencing the lowest growth over the Christmas period since 2014, it appears that we are finally starting to see the green shoots of improvement," said Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight.
“Whilst consumers remain uncertain about their spending intentions, the results from Valentine’s Day prove that they continue to ‘trade up’ for events and are still willing to spend on premium food and indulgences. In particular, gifting for Valentine’s Day was robust, as was the traditional ‘dine in’ alternatives.”
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
