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Hitwise Intelligence - Heather Hopkins - North America

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Valentines Day Challenges and Hope From Procrastinators

February 12, 2009

It will surprise no one that Valentines Day is going to be a tough for retailers. Visits to Flowers and Gifts websites were down 9% year over year last week. However, Hitwise data show that there is still hope for ailing retailers - at least those that can offer last minute offers and delivery to procrastinators.

In face of the weak economy, I wondered if we'd see searches for do-it-yourself Valentines Day ideas increasing and searches for purchased gifts decreasing. I looked at search terms that included the words "valentines" and found that in the past four weeks, 383 (among 4,921 total) also included the word "gift". That is down from 415 last year - an 8% drop.

So yes, we are seeing a decrease in visits to Flowers and Gifts retailers and a decrease in searches for Valentines Day Gifts, but take heart - there is hope yet - at least for retailers that can meet the needs of last minute shoppers.

Last year, my colleague, Heather Dougherty, noticed that Valentines Day shopping is left to the last minute. In fact, visits to Flowers and Gifts retailers peaked on 13th February 2008 and 14th February 2007. Retailers that can respond to last minute demand can benefit from these procrastinators.

And, if Valentines Day is a bust, there's always Mothers Day to look forward to. As the following chart indicates Mothers are preferred to sweethearts anyway (at least when it comes to flowers!).

valentines Day Chart.png