Data Reveals What’s at the Heart of Consumer Searches This Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2023
With pandemic restraints behind us, will people still celebrate Valentine’s Day at home? Who’s most likely to feel the strike of Cupid’s arrow from early shopping? What’s the most searched-for gift online?
These are some of the questions our search data is answering in this season of love.
Semrush data reveals three key trends when it comes to online searches related to the holiday:
Surging searches for “Valentine’s Day decor” suggests people are feeling the love but may prefer celebrating at home
Those searching for gifts “for him” tend to look online more in advance of the holiday than those shopping “for her”
Flower bouquets are still the most searched-for gift in January and February
Growing desire for Valentine’s Day decorations
Our numbers reveal searches for “Valentine’s Day decor” more than doubled over the last three years, rising 153% from January 2019 to January 2022. Likewise, queries for “vintage Valentine’s Day decor” saw a 300% growth between January 2019 and January 2022.
Notably, most of the searches do occur in the month of January. The month-over-month change from January to February has been negative the last three years, falling from 301K average monthly searches in January 2022 to 60.5K in February. This trend suggests that Valentine’s planning starts shortly after the start of the new year.
What does data tell us about celebrating Valentine’s Day at home? Specific search queries for “Valentine’s Day home decorations” saw an astonishing 174.1% growth from January 2019 to January 2022. And “DIY Valentine’s decor” searches rose 125% from February 2019 to February 2022.
Semrush data shows these additional specific home decor searches with significant yearly growth in the months of January and February:
Valentine’s Day door decorations: +174.1% (Jan 2019 to Jan 2022) and +131.6% (Feb 2019 to Feb 2022)
Valentine’s Day tree decorations: +400% (Jan 2019 to Jan 2022) and +128.6% (Feb 2019 to Feb 2022)
Valentine’s Day mantel decorations: +510.2% (Jan 2019 to Jan 2022) and +254.5% (Feb 2019 to Feb 2022)
Not all searches were for indoor decor. The pandemic likely inspired a push for “Valentine's Day outdoor decorations,” which rose 125% from February 2019 to February 2022.
Early searches for “Valentine’s Day gifts for him”
While the growth in numbers seems to suggest the lovebirds out there are more eager than ever to celebrate the day, looking a bit more closely at the data reveals some potential demographic-specific trends.
Semrush data shows that search queries for “Valentine’s Day gifts for him” were highest in the month of January, while “Valentine’s Day gifts for her” didn’t spike until February. Cupid’s arrow seems to be aimed at the hearts of men first.
Are Valentine’s Day flowers still a popular gift?
While the data reveals a growing desire for a “cookie bouquet” and “candy bouquet,” flowers are still the most popular bouquet among searchers.
Queries for “Valentine’s bouquet” grew 247.4% from January 2019 to January 2022, and almost doubled in the same time period in February (up 83.3%).
Do searchers prefer a specific kind of flower? “Pink lily bouquet” and “sunflower bouquet” rank high in February, but the more traditional rose is still the favorite. According to our data, searches for “rose bouquet” doubled in the last three years for both January and February (123.6% and 173.5% respectively).
But it’s not just bouquets. Consumer demand for flower petals has skyrocketed. The keyword “petals” saw growth of 87.5% and 73.5% for January and February respectively the last three years.
Furthermore, queries for “rose petals near me” saw a 308% growth in February since 2019, and a 421% increase since January of the same year.
There’s so much to love about Semrush data
To track the latest trends, seasonal and otherwise, more than 10 million marketers have put their trust in Semrush.
And who knows? The data might just inspire you to try something new next year for Valentine’s Day. Or at the very least, you can share some of these insights with your significant other to make sure they’re on top of their gift-giving game next year!
In need of exclusive data for an upcoming story? Reach out to pr@semrush.com for media inquiries and questions.
How effective are Instagram Reels for businesses? To find out, Semrush analyzed 820K Instagram posts from public business accounts between January 1, 2022 and August 4, 2023.
Data & Insights
September 26, 2023
Search and Traffic Data Reveal the Internet’s Hottest Topics for Investing, Debt, and Savings
August 14 marks National Finance Awareness Day, a time to take stock of our savings, investments, debts, and personal finances to prepare for a more stable future. To help lead the way toward financial literacy, we’ve pulled data on the hottest trending financial web sea...
Data & Insights
August 14, 2023
Social Media Deep Dive: What and When to Post on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
To help you sharpen your social strategy, Semrush analyzed a year’s worth of social media content on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook from the biggest tech companies.