Can buy me love
Valentine's Day spending is expected to reach $13.7 billion this year, thanks mostly to boyfriends, husbands and dads, survey says.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - From candy and cards to roses and reservations, consumers will be opening their wallets to express what's in their hearts this February 14.

The average consumer will spend $100.89 on Valentine's Day, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2006 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch for NRF. That's up from $97.27 last year.

Total Valentine's Day spending is expected to reach $13.70 billion in 2006, the survey said.

Men will be the biggest spenders this Valentine's Day, spending $135.67, almost double the $68.64 that the average woman will spend.

Nearly half of those polled will celebrate by buying candy or going out for the evening. Other popular gifts include flowers, jewelry and the less-romantic gift certificate.

More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine's Day, according to the National Confectioner's Association.

"When it comes to shopping for their special someone on Valentine's Day, consumers turn to more sentimental gifts," Tracy Mullin, president and CEO of NRF, said in a statement.

"Retailers know that traditional Valentine's gifts, including candy, cards, jewelry and flowers will remain holiday favorites and they stock their shelves accordingly."

The NRF 2006 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, polled 6,618 consumers between Jan. 1 and 11. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.