Revealed: How Brits are celebrating first-ever lockdown Valentine’s Day

· Sex toy popularity soars by 4400% ahead of Valentine’s Day compared to 2020

· Knife sets (771%), stand mixers (229%), pizza ovens (329%) and rice cookers (214%) all see interest increase as Brits look to recreate their favourite meals

· Interest in face scrubs rise 242% as Brits aim to look the part for their dates

Lockdown isn’t deterring Brits this Valentine’s Day, but we are looking to mark the occasion in different ways, from recreating favourite restaurant meals, to spicing things up in the bedroom with sex toys, according to new research.

The research by impartial price and product comparison service, PriceSpy, was conducted in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day (1st-7th February). It reveals that this year Brits are planning to be more adventurous in the bedroom, with sex toy popularity increasing by a whopping 4400% when compared to the same time last year and over half (54%) since January.

Others, meanwhile, are looking to fill another hole by prepping a fancy night in, featuring a home-cooked slap-up meal and drinks. Kitchen knives are currently the most sought-after cooking equipment, almost eight times more popular than the same period last year. Stand mixers are also proving popular, with a 229% increase in views.

Instead of ordering in, some Brits are aiming to recreate their favourite pizzas at home, with pizza oven popularity over three times higher this year. Similarly rice cookers are seeing an increase of 214%, suggesting many are looking to score some points with something more exotic.

 

It seems that many are looking to wash down their meals in style with a tasty beverage, with glassware seeing a 2300% year on year popularity increase. Beer dispensers have also seen a similar popularity surge, to the tune of 1150% and 92% when compared to the previous week.

Ossie Bayram, commercial director at PriceSpy, comments:

“Our research shows that despite lockdown, Brits aren’t being deterred, but instead are looking to make the most of the day. What’s interesting is seeing just how much spending habits ahead of the day have varied since last year, before we bore the brunt of the pandemic.

“For anyone purchasing for the most romantic day of the year, it's crucial not to take the first price you see. There are hundreds of online retailers delivering during lockdown. Spending 10 minutes comparing on a price comparison site could save hundreds of pounds." 

ENDS

Notes to editor(s)
PriceSpy’s research examined consumer activity on the platform from 1st-7th February 2021, 1st January – 8th January 2021 and 1st February – 7th February 2020.

Media enquiries  
For more information or for interview requests:  
Lizzie Elkin 07824 832106 / lizzie@milkandhoneypr.com

About PriceSpy  
PriceSpy is a comprehensive price and product comparison service used by millions of consumers every month. It helps consumers find, discover, research and compare products.  PriceSpy has 5,520,000 indexed prices, 829,000 products, 6,910,000 product properties, along with hundreds of thousands of product and shop ratings. Providing a fully impartial comparison service for consumers and a deep depository of price data for retailers.  Prisjakt launched in the year 2000 and is Sweden's largest price comparison service. The service is known in Sweden and Norway as Prisjakt, and in the UK and New Zealand as PriceSpy.   

 

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