ADVISORY/Valentines Feel the Love -- Online Sales for Valentine's Day 2001 Predicted to Jump 31.7% From Last Year.Business Editors/Retail & Advertising/Marketing Writers ADVISORY... --(BUSINESS WIRE) Second only to Christmas Christmas [Christ's Mass], in the Christian calendar, feast of the nativity of Jesus, celebrated in Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches on Dec. 25. In liturgical importance it ranks after Easter, Pentecost, and Epiphany (Jan. 6). , Valentine's Day Valentine's Day: see Saint Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day Lovers' holiday celebrated on February 14, the feast day of St. Valentine, one of two 3rd-century Roman martyrs of the same name. St. continues to generate more online sales than any other national holiday, proving that the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the is one of Cupid's most powerful tools for reaching romantics. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a survey(1) by BizRate.com, the leading comparison-shopping site on the Web, over one-third of buyers intend to make a Valentine's Day purchase online in 2001, and BizRate.com forecasts that sales will increase to more than $2 billion in sales -- a significant 31.7% increase from the same period(2) last year. Women (59%) are opening their hearts and wallets to online shopping this year, saying they intend to purchase gifts over the Web for two or more people, compared to only 40% of men. "Cupid has no choice but to add online shopping to his bow and arrow bow and arrow, weapon consisting of two parts; the bow is made of a strip of flexible material, such as wood, with a cord linking the two ends of the strip to form a tension from which is propelled the arrow; the arrow is a straight shaft with a sharp point on one because consumers will continue to turn to the Web for the convenience, the deals and the choice it can provide," said Seth Geiger, vice president of professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. at BizRate.com. "With the softer economy, e-tailers are utilizing promotional tactics such as waiving shipping fees, adding bonus gifts and including 30-day guarantees, to keep their customers coming back," concluded Geiger. For example, the following merchants featured within BizRate's Valentine's Gift Guide, are currently offering either free shipping, bonus gifts or 30-day guarantees for Valentine's Day 2001: -- ProFlowers.com -- Blue Nile -- Fossil -- Ashford.com -- Perfumes America -- Scentiments -- Bare Necessities -- HenryandJune.com -- eDelights.com -- Things Remembered -- Gifts.com -- eVineyard The most popular items to be purchased this Valentine's Day remain the same as in 2000: -- Flowers (44%) -- eGreeting Cards (42%) -- Candy/Chocolate (30%) While Valentines may be 'feeling the love' this year they certainly will not feel the commitment -- only 1% of online buyers say they expect to propose to their significant others this Valentine's Day! About BizRate.com Founded in 1996 and based in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , BizRate.com (www.bizrate.com) is the No. 1 retail mall on the Web (according to Media Metrix, December 2000), connecting millions of buyers to thousands of sellers in a single, organized location. Designed as the ultimate comparison-shopping hub, the site provides the best efficiencies for both buyers and sellers. In BizRate.com's marketplace, shoppers have access to a powerful product search engine, standardized standardized pertaining to data that have been submitted to standardization procedures. standardized morbidity rate see morbidity rate. standardized mortality rate see mortality rate. check-out, exclusive deals, "hot" product listings and gift guides to empower empower verb To encourage or provide a person with the means or information to become involved in solving his/her own problems consumers to "shop smartly" across 20 popular store categories and more than 1,500 merchants. Through BizRate.com's unbiased consumer rating system, compiled exclusively from point-of-sale and fulfillment ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. surveys of participating merchants, shoppers can compare merchants across 10 service dimensions. BizRate.com ratings appear on Consumer Reports Online and in Consumer Reports magazine. BizRate.com Experts are Available to Add Commentary to Your Articles To schedule an interview with a BizRate.com research expert, please contact: Leslie Barry, 310/305-3506, ext. 186, lbarry@bizrate.com Julie Mathis, 323/866-6039, jmathis@mslpr.com (1) Survey of more than 7,707 online buyers conducted from 1/25/01-1/28/01 (2) "Valentines Day shopping period" refers to the period of 2/1 to 2/14 for 2000 and 2001. |
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