Valentine’s Day celebrations now extend to pets and pals
Pets are making perfect partners for Valentine’s Day with more cards than ever being bought for four-legged friends celebrating today’s big celebration of love.
The Telegraph covered the furry phenomenon at the weekend, quoting GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson as saying: “There is definitely a trend to send Valentine’s Day cards now to more than just your loved one. As well as other members of the family, people even send them from and to their pets.
“Of course, the main sales for this season continue to be cards bought for a lover, but today Valentine’s cards are often also sent to other family members, especially if they feel they need a little romance injected into their lives.”
And indie retailer Julia Keeling, who owns Wishes Of Cudworth, agreed, telling PG Buzz: “We’ve had quite a lot of sending cards to and from pets, and also a lot of to and from mummy and daddy – the mummy cards have sold out, not the daddy ones though!
“Mainly all last week it’s been the men who have been buying in advance, which has been quite good. Yesterday and today – 14 February – it’s been the women! The top captions have been mainly wife, fiancée, and husband but not fiancé.
“Sales have been not too bad, we’re in that time where people are being a bit more careful with money. It’s been good for Words ’n’ Wishes, Wishing Well, Cherry Orchard and Hallmark, the slower ones have been the boxed cards, which are more expensive.”
At Sincerely Yours in Shenfield and Hornchurch, owner Kaye Thurgood has stocked pet cards for a few years and noticed they have increased in sales this year: “We’ve sold a few, more than previous years probably, but they’re more popular here at Christmas and for Mother’s Day. UK Greetings has been the best seller, their large wife cards have been a real hit this year.
“We went out with Valentine’s straight after Christmas to put it on customers’ radar and they started selling straight away, and we sold out of a number of designs before the end of January, in particular large wife cards.
“The men have definitely bought earlier this year, many were saying they don’t want to get caught out by leaving it to the last minute. That may be past experience or that people want something nice to focus on. We’re definitely picking up a happy vibe in our shops at the moment which is surprising and very refreshing.”
Helen Southgate has been stocking from the dog and from the cat cards at Cards N Things in Norwich for a number of years and has noticed they’ve been selling through well again this year, although wife is definitely the top caption for 2023.
“They sold really quickly,” Helen, who runs the store with husband Paul, added. “It’s been a bit of a spread across all our publishers this year, no one company has stood out, and it’s been really good for us this year.
“We had a very busy day yesterday with the men coming in and again today – and what’s been really good for us has been the add-on gifts as we have a good selection.”
The Telegraph added that latest figures show Brits bought 19million Valentine’s cards in 2021, with many now buying more than one as they send to someone else as well as a partner or lover, with grandparents and parents buying for children, while others buy for friends and even work colleagues, leading to three for two offers in numerous stores and online retailers such as Ohh Deer.
Dr Clare Hoare, a researcher at the Institute of Contemporary British History, King’s College London, told the newspaper: “I always buy them for my three sons. Keep it quiet though – they think they’ve got admirers (they’re all in their 20s btw). I was going to send cards from the dog too, but that seemed too extravagant.”
Heather Crabbe added: “People send Valentine’s cards to their grandkids and sometimes their friends, etc. I know because my mum used to send me a Valentine until I had kids and now she sends to them.”
And electronics engineer James Head said: “Daughter likes one from my wife and I, and my wife expects one from her cat as well so three for two is a good offer for cat-households with children.”
The GCA’s consumer research shows celebrating love every 14 February is here to stay as 67% of 18-34 year olds in 2021 were planning to send more or the same number of Valentine’s Day cards than in previous year, with 80% of card buyers overall intending to send more or the same number.
Spring season sales covering Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day last year accounted for 11% by value of the single card market, together totalling £167million – an increase of 12 per cent on 2020.
Top: Love is in the air for everyone, including pets, this Valentine’s Day
