Valentine’s Day e-commerce tips to boost sales and repeat customers

By Andrew Scanlon, Head of Sales and Marketing at Staci

Valentine’s Day is increasingly becoming a prime opportunity for retailers. No longer just about couples, the rise of ‘Galentines Day’ – people celebrating with friends, and the ‘self care/treat yourself’ movement for individuals opens up a large new market segment for the traditional holiday. People are even buying themed gifts and treats for their pets.

For brands, seasonal peaks like Valentine’s Day can be make or break. Get it right, and you solidify relationships with existing loyal customers, while also reaching entirely new ones.

There are several key strategies retailers are adopting to ensure they are capitalising on this moment to drive sales and just as importantly, build a customer base that lasts beyond seasonal peaks.

1. Making life easy for new customers

Seasonal peaks often bring a surge of first-time shoppers, but converting them into repeat customers needs careful attention. Retailers must first capture interest by ensuring the most relevant products are in stock and prominently featured on their website.

Once attention is secured, retailers should make the experience as effortless as possible. Dedicated seasonal landing pages that showcase key offers, curated bundles and delivery information in one clear view help guide shoppers. Keeping navigation intuitive, checkout smooth, and ensuring the site performs flawlessly on mobile, helps first-time buyers to move from browsing to purchasing with minimal friction.

2. Embracing personalisation

As brands compete for sales in busy periods such as Valentines Day, even with the best marketing strategies and products it can be difficult to cut through the noise. That’s where personalisation becomes invaluable.

With close alignment between webshop platforms and fulfilment systems, brands can access real-time insight into customer behaviour. This allows offers, recommendations and communications to be shaped around individual preferences rather than broad assumptions. When done well, personalisation adds emotional value, makes the experience more memorable and supports repeat purchasing long after seasonal peaks like Valentine’s Day have passed.

3. Creating a memorable unboxing experience 

Personalisation no longer stops at the online journey. Increasingly, brands are using packaging to create moments that feel considered and memorable once an order arrives. Handwritten notes or small signature touches add an element of surprise to the unboxing, helping customers feel valued, building familiarity with the brand and leaving a stronger overall impression.

In a social media-first environment, these moments have wider reach. A well-executed unboxing can encourage sharing, strengthen emotional connection and support cross-sell or upsell opportunities without feeling forced.

By working closely with e-commerce brands, order data can be analysed to understand what drives conversion and what sits behind peaks in demand. These insights inform the messaging placed inside each order, shaping personalised packaging that feels relevant to the individual shopper. Late-stage printing enables customised text or creative to be added at scale, while in-pack inserts can deliver tailored offers or messages that feel timely and personal rather than generic.

4. Delivery speed and accuracy as non-negotiables

Valentine’s Day often arrives sooner than shoppers expect, driving a sharp rise in last-minute purchases. In this context, fast and reliable delivery becomes central to customer satisfaction. Shoppers increasingly expect orders to arrive quickly, on time and exactly as described, with little tolerance for delays or errors.

To meet these peaks, retailers need fulfilment partners that can stay agile under pressure. Those using machine learning, robotics and advanced automation have a clear advantage, delivering higher accuracy throughout the picking and packing process even as volumes rise.

Proprietary warehouse management systems help by optimising stock placement and streamlining order flow. Keeping products in prime locations enables rapid, accurate dispatch as soon as orders are placed, reducing errors, improving first-time accuracy and protecting the customer experience in a way that supports repeat purchasing.

5. Continuing customer engagement with remarketing schemes

When the earlier stages are delivered well, customers, both new and returning, are far more likely to feel confident and satisfied with their purchase. This creates a natural opportunity to introduce remarketing activity or loyalty programmes while the experience is still fresh.

Reaching customers at this point, shortly after delivery, is especially effective. The product has arrived on time, expectations have been met, and the emotional value of a Valentine’s Day purchase is still present. Thoughtful follow-up, whether through tailored offers, loyalty rewards or timely reminders, can help retailers turn a positive first experience into repeat purchasing and longer-term loyalty.

Love is in the ware(house)

Loyalty is built in the details. Personalisation, unboxing, delivery speed and customer engagement all work together to create a perfect match for customers.

With upcoming peaks like Valentine’s Day 2026, retailers have an opportunity to put this into practice. Curated bundles, personalised gifts and well-timed delivery matter just as much as the product itself, whether shoppers are buying for partners, friends or even pets. The brands that win will be those that treat fulfilment as part of the experience, not the final step.

Image courtesy of Unsplash. Photo credit: Jesse Goll.