Research, based on data from Google Trends, shows that for five of the last six years, UK search traffic for “Valentine’s gifts” has peaked on the Monday before Valentine’s Day. The only exception was in 2012, when it peaked on the Tuesday before.
With that in mind the Post Office have called today (8th February) “Ro-Manic Monday”, the day when most people across the UK head online to seek out Valentine’s gifts for loved ones.
New research from Post Office also shows this could be good news for SME’s as 37 per cent of people say they are likely to look to smaller businesses in future to try to find something more unique this Valentine’s Day. With one in three likely to seek out unique gifts from small businesses online thousands of these businesses will be relying on the Post Office to fulfil their Valentine’s orders.
Often when we get a press release it contains a case study so today I was thrilled to discover that the Post Office press release highlighted a friend of mine – Kelly O’Donnell of Popadoodledoo.
Kelly started her cake pop business, Popadoodledoo, two years ago and like many small local businesses established herself on local markets including Newbury Charter Market, Andover Farmers’ and Crafts Market and Thames Valley Farmers’ Market. However Kelly didn’t ignore the Internet and started selling on Facebook, opened her own website and set up on the Yumbles marketplace.
With success online, orders have to be delivered so Kelly is a regular at her local Post Office, preferring to use next day services to ensure products arrive as fresh as possible.
Popadoodledoo is receiving orders from across the UK for Valentine’s gifts and Kelly says: “Our cake pops are proving particularly popular with people from across the UK looking for something unique to give this Valentine’s Day. Orders have been coming in from across the UK from as far away as Orkney. So far the majority of orders have been placed by women who like to plan ahead, though as we reach the end of the week I’ll be expecting to see more men placing last minute orders for loved ones.”
Mark Siviter, Head of Mails at Post Office added “A third of small businesses visit Post Office branches each week. Pre-paid, fast drop mail service Drop & Go can help streamline the process for business customers, especially at busy times of the year such as Valentine’s Day“.
