• by February 15, 2002

Nielsen//NetRatings reports that surfers flocked to the Web during the week ending February 10, to send Valentine's Day gifts and online greetings to loved ones.

Online greeting card Web sites attracted surfers at-work, as traffic to AmericanGreetings.com surged 92% to 746,000 office workers, compared to 388,000 visitors the week prior. eGreetings.com drew 519,000 surfers, jumping 57%. Both greeting card sites attracted a predominantly female audience, with a 64/36 split at AmericanGreetings.com and a 50/47 split at eGreetings.com.

Lingerie websites drew surfers at-home during the same week. Fredericks.com skyrocketed 115% to 562,000 unique visitors, as compared to 261,000 surfers the previous week. VictoriasSecret.com attracted 376,000 surfers, rising 22%. VictoriasSecret.com attracted a predominantly male audience, comprising 64% of the total audience, while females out-numbered males at Fredericks.com, 55 to 45.

"Events such as Valentine's day allow ecommerce websites to attract shoppers with special promotions while providing the convenience and flexibility of purchasing online," said Betty Yeh, Internet analyst at NetRatings. "Similar to the offline retail season, February 14th is the first major event after the holidays in which online merchants can heavily advertise sales and also promote seasonal items related to Valentine's Day."