15 February 2016
Last weekend we celebrated Valentine’s Day – the name day of the Saint Valentine who died who died almost 2000 years ago “in the name of love”. Valentine’s Day 2016 is a far cry from its humble early beginnings when priests secretly married men and women in defiance of the Roman state.
Largely thanks to advancements in e-commerce and logistics, Valentine’s Day 2016 allowed lovers to deliver gifts specifically on the morning of February 14th, ship flowers halfway across the world (not unsurprisingly red roses – and an estimated total of 70 Boeing 767’s full of them), and more and more sales through e-commerce.
2000 years after Saint Valentine, (and whether we like it or not) with 180 million cards exchanged between lovers, and almost $14 billion spent annually, Valentine’s Day has conquered our hearts. But also our wallets.