Online Businesses Felt the Love on Valentine's Day

The numbers from the long weekend are in, and certain websites got some serious love over Valentine's Day weekend, despite the recession. ScanSafe reports that traffic to popular floral and online dating sites grew dramatically over last year.

The National Retail Federation predicted total Valentine's Day spending would fall 14 percent, but that didn't hurt online traffic.

1-800-Flowers (FLWS) showed a 270 percent increase in traffic this year over last year. And traffic to Match.com, eHarmony, and other online dating sites grew 213 percent. The recession didn't stop people from over-indulging; it may have encouraged it — traffic at websites like Godiva.com that sell chocolates and sweets grew 186 percent. But when it comes to big-ticket Valentine's Day items — lingerie — the economy did take its toll. Traffic at Victoria's Secret.com (LTD), LaPerla.com and other lingerie sites dropped 40 percent.

So people are making the gesture, sending the flowers, but they're not spending on big items like they used to. And florists may have benefited from the fact that Valentine's day was on a Saturday, prompting some people to send flowers on Friday, others on Sunday, and it seems like that option meant more flowers were sent overall.

Comments

[Ted Pulaski:]

Where did you get the 213 percent? And this is traffic on what period compared to what period?

Feb 19 07:52 AM

[BlueOkie:]

I have a couple of friends working at 800-flowers. They tell a different story about numbers. Business was way off. Where'd you get your numbers?

Feb 19 08:14 AM

[1-800Flower...:]

I am a florist that fills orders for 800Flowers. Their sales were in the toilet compared to last year. Staff that were expected to work all weekend at their headquarters were told they could leave by early Saturday afternoon. I heard they really took a beating this year.

Mar 05 10:53 AM

[Retro Sweets:]

I have to say I used to work at Teleflorist and they really took a beating. My understanding from everyone else in the industry is that sales were well down, certainly I can speak for Interflora and Teleflorist in that respect.

Interestingly I dont believe it is a Valentines Day thing at all. I now look after a business that sells retro sweets and gifts and it saw a massive uplift in sales over Valentines Day. I think people are spending, in times like this they just pick what they spend their money on more carefully. Maye flowers are an extravegance that can be ruled out being as they last only a few days?

Jun 14 04:09 AM