• by February 12, 2003

According to the latest comScore e-commerce data release, the three weeks preceding Valentine's Day accounted for nearly 13% of sales at the Flowers and Gifts category for the full year 2002. In fact, sales in the category grew 308% to a weekly average of $37 million in the three weeks leading up to and including Valentine's Day versus the preceding first four weeks of 2002.

Nearly 34 million Internet users - about 24% of the online population - visited the Flowers, Gifts and Greetings category in December 2002. The category is led by offline market leaders American Greetings and Hallmark, with 16.6 million and 9.7 million unique visitors, respectively.

Whether planning to send or hoping to receive the bouquets and gifts available at these sites, women accounted for 58% of visitors to the Flowers, Gifts and Greeting sites in December 2002 - not far from the 56% composition posted last February during Valentine season.

comScore says that Internet users between 55 and 64 are the most over-represented age group at the Flowers, Gifts and Greetings category. In fact, the Flowers, Gifts and Greetings category reaches more than 30% of all Internet users over the age of 55.

Interestingly enough, comScore says that Internet users living alone are 17% more likely to visit Flowers, Gifts and Greetings sites than the average Internet user.