Daily Research News Online no. 2929

Love, Factually

February 17 2004

Nearly a fifth of British men buy a Valentine's card 'because they feel they have to', while half of their American counterparts feel the day 'gets too much attention'. With the red roses still fairly fresh in the vase, DRNO brings you a quick summary of Valentine's Day polls and web site visitor stats.

A survey in the UK by NOP World has shown that close to 4 out of 10 (39%) people buy a Valentine's card, including over half (52%) of 16-24 yr olds but only one in nine pensioners (11%).

Of those who do buy a card, a healthy 4 out of 5 people (82%) do so 'because they want to', but a shocking 1 in 5 (18%) do so only 'because they feel they have to'. This is more true of men (25%) than women (10%). However, men (43%) are more likely to buy a card than women (36%). NOP interviewed 998 people aged 16+ by telephone between 13th and 15th Feb 2004.

Just before the day, Internet measurement companies comScore and Hitwise issued stats showing how traffic to and purchases from relevant web sites had blossomed in early February.

Spending in the Flowers & Gifts, Home & Beauty, and Jewelry & Watches categories was up 49% in the ten days ending Feb. 11, 2004 versus 2003 levels, according to comScore.

According to Hitwise, traffic to Flowers & Gifts sites increased by 53% between the 1st and 13th of the month. Interflora was the most visited site within the Flowers & Gifts category by 13th with traffic up 250%. Almost 1 in 5 visits to the Flowers & Gifts category on 12th Feb was made to www.interflora.co.uk . Interflora was the most searched for brand within the category.

Other fast moving sites include Teleflorist.co.uk (154% increase in visits) and Blooming Britain (107% increase in visits), whilst Surprise Your Woman www.surpriseyourwoman.com - a web site offering a selection of gifts for women - increased its visits by 102%.

Top 10 UK Flowers & Gifts sites, Thursday 12th February:
Rank	Name	Domain	Market Share
1	Interflora UK	www.interflora.co.uk	19.14%
2	Memorise This	www.memorisethis.com	6.30%
3	Birthday Alarm	www.birthdayalarm.com	6.24%
4	Crocus.co.uk	www.crocus.co.uk	6.13%
5	I-want-one-of-those.com	www.iwantoneofthose.com	4.58%
6	Gadget Shop.com	www.gadgetshop.com	3.38%
7	Firebox.com	www.firebox.com	3.03%
8	Tesco Flowers	www.tesco.com/flowers	2.92%
9	NEXT Fresh Flowers	www.nextflowers.co.uk	2.05%
10	Moonpig Cards	www.moonpig.com	1.86%

comScore also conducted opinion research via their Survey Solutions division, and found that...

Many men and women agree that Valentine's Day is overrated - 50% of men and 41% of women feel that Valentine's Day gets too much attention and only 10% / 9% respectively feel that it gets too little
the top rated gifts among women are Flowers and Jewelry & Watches, while men prefer Music and Consumer Electronics - see below
men plan to spend more than women on Valentine's Day gifts.
the top rated Valentine's Day activities are Dinner at a restaurant, followed by 'a quiet evening at home' and going to a movie.

'Last year, the three weeks ending on Valentine's Day accounted for a full 12 percent of the year's online spending in the Flowers & Gifts category - a seasonal peak that's expected and pronounced across channels', said Dan Hess, senior vice president of comScore Networks.

Preferred Valentine's Day Gifts
Percentage of Respondents Ranking Gifts Among Top Three Choices
Females		Males
Flowers	47%	Music	33%
Jewelry/Watches	32%	Consumer Electronics	24%
Massage/spa treatments	28%	Travel	24%
Candy/other food gifts	23%	Candy/other food gifts	24%
Perfume/Cologne	21%	Jewelry/Watches	23%

Source: comScore Survey Solutions February 2003