 |
Businesses feel the love on Valentine’s Day
In the United States, for example, couples will spend an average of $63.34 on gifts for their significant other or spouse, compared to $67.22 last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2010 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. Turkish consumers spent TL 642 million last year on Valentine’s Day using their credit cards, according to data from the Interbank Card Center (BKM). This represented a 53 percent increase from 2008 even with the economic downturn of 2009. It remains to be seen whether a similar or even greater increase occurs this year.
Gold and other precious metals and stones have traditionally been a gift of choice in Turkish culture, especially for special occasions such as weddings and births. Beyond just its cultural significance, gold is also seen as a foolproof way of guarding against inflation and also a savings instrument for individuals looking to avoid putting money in the bank. Valentine’s Day is no exception, as jewelers were rushing to stock up on heart-shaped pendants and diamond rings to satisfy demand for couples looking for a lasting gift.
Fake goods?
Yahya Harmandaroğlu, the owner of Neslin Sarrafiye, one of the oldest and most well-known jewelers in Nazilli, a district in the province of Aydın, speaking to Sunday’s Zaman stated that they had stocked up on diamond rings as they were the most popular gifts during this time. Even with their preparations, however, he added that business had yet to pick up as of Friday, when Sunday’s Zaman went to press. “But to be honest with you, everyone leaves their spending until the very last moment in this country, or sometimes they even forget and get a gift later. Others delay their spending until they have received their paycheck, though credit cards have changed this spending habit.”
When asked whether the economic crisis of 2009 would affect their business this year, Harmandaroğlu stated that “even with a crisis, people spend on special occasion gifts like this.” High gold prices -- still hovering around $1,000 per ounce -- are also affecting the market, with couples apparently preferring to give off the illusion of value in their gifts: “Because gold prices are so high, people looking to buy jewelry now prefer to give each other imitation gold and silver products.”
Alternative goodies
Though the well-known tradition of giving roses and other gifts expressing love is still strong in Turkey, alternative gifts that would not be considered “consumer goods” are also becoming widespread in an increasingly environmentally and socially conscious Turkey. The Foundation for the Promotion and Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage’s (ÇEKÜL) 7 Trees Program accepts donations to plant trees for a person of your choice to offset the seven trees that an individual consumes in one year. They provide certificates with the name of the person in whose honor the tree has been planted. The 7 Tree forests are located in Antalya, Bilecik, Bursa, Harran, İstanbul, Marmaris and Sivas.
The Turkey branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is also looking at this year’s Valentine’s Day as an opportunity for those looking to contribute to the protection of wildlife as a show of love for their significant other. The fund sells mugs, T-shirts and plush panda and polar bear stuffed animals to contribute funds to the organization and receive something physical in return.
Credit cards looking to cash in
Yapı Kredi also had a promotion with their World credit cards, where holders of the card who spent TL 500 or more within the two weeks before Valentine’s Day received TL 100 in credit to use on a dinner on Feb. 14. Although the firm would not give preliminary figures on the number of participants in the program or how much was spent, they did note that this promotion was a repeat of last year’s that garnered “great” interest by World cardholders. When asked whether consumers were changing their spending habits to reach the TL 500 limit, representatives from Yapı Kredi noted that people were still buying the same kinds of items that they normally would have -- an indication that consumers were not doing anything out of the ordinary but rather naturally taking this opportunity to get a free dinner date with their significant other. Other card companies also took advantage of this special occasion to provide extra reward points and airline miles.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
| ABDULLAH BOZKURT |  |
||
| Turkey and Mexico: Distant yet so close | |||
| BERİL DEDEOĞLU |  |
||
| Yemen and beyond | |||
| ARZU KAYA URANLI |  |
||
| On Memorial Day a few words to make your day memorable | |||
| ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ |  |
||
| Google kidnaps Gül! | |||
| CUMALİ ÖNAL |  |
||
| Critical months for Egypt | |||
| DOĞU ERGİL |  |
||
| Qualities of power | |||
| İHSAN YILMAZ |  |
||
| The Egyptian elections, Islam and Islamists | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Operational errors | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| There is need for a new initiative | |||
| JOOST LAGENDIJK |  |
||
| Europe can’t have it all. Or can it? | |||
| HASAN KANBOLAT |  |
||
| Are Russian tourists being discouraged from visiting Turkey? | |||
| MELİH ARAT |  |
||
| Handmade | |||
| KLAUS JURGENS |  |
||
| Back to the ’80s | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
