As online shoppers scramble to grab a suitable Valentine’s Day present, Rakuten’s Play.com, has commissioned a romantic poem written by spoken word poet Dan Simpson, Canterbury’s Laureate, whose poetry has featured on London Underground and on BBC Radio.
The poem is an ‘ode to the Valentine’s Day shopper’ and tells the story of a man taking a journey across the high street, the web and his social networks in order to find the perfect gift for his loved one.
Shingo Murakami, MD, Rakuten’s Play.com comments; “A few years ago buying a Valentine’s Day gift meant one visit to a jewellers or florist. However now shopping habits have changed and the internet offers much more choice and inspiration for gifts. The Valentine’s Day search now typically involves a number of channels from on-the-go mobile browsing to a visit to the local high street and this poem celebrates these journeys.
Murakami continues: “Rakuten commissioned this poem to highlight to our merchants the complexity of the modern shopping journey and demonstrate why a multi-channel strategy this Valentine’s Day is so important. To capture sales in the run up to Valentine’s Day retailers need to make interactions personal and multi-channel.”
Dan Simpson’s ode to the shopper features below:
Valentine’s Day is a time for meaning
for showing our loves our loving feelings
his quest for the best gift he can give:
it surely must be as unique as she is.
Tapping and typing away on his phone
linking and pinning he makes his way home
he gains some insight from her Facebook Likes
IMs her friends for their friendly advice.
Checks a text message in search of a hint
whilst her Pinterest interests help him to think
tweeting’s not cheating so he checks her page
wanting that one thing just he could arrange.
Chocolates do not let her know that he cares
soft toys are no joy – so no teddy bears
jewellery is truly too easily bought
flowers too obvious: now where’s the thought?
Clichés are ok – but he wants clever
a present that’s personal is so much better
many late nights on websites he hunted
looking for something special she wanted.
Perfect is worth it so he shops around
taking to making wish-lists of things found
clicking, flicking, online object-picking
sorting and sifting, before committing.
Searching and purchasing just what she’ll like
he finally finds the gift that feels right.
Valentine’s arrives – a date where they met
one special present is all that they said
a smile in her eyes, she looks in the box
reveals the ideal, best present he got:
a ‘surprise but it’s right’ type of feeling
it’s aptly, exactly her kind of thing.
She adores, cares for, instantly holds it dear:
he wonders how he’ll top that next year.
By Dan Simpson