Mothers Day Gift Purchases for Jewelry Outpaces All Other Categories

According to a study recently conducted by Internet telecommunications infrastructure provider Verisign, online sales of jewelry outpaced all other Mother's Day gifts categories for 2005. Results of the study state that jewelry sales increased 79% over 2004, with diamond sales up the highest at 101%.

The diamond category average purchase price was $517, according to the Verisign study, with total online Mother's Day gift purchases from April 25 to May 8 increasing 24% to $4.4 billion. Purchases made for Mothers Day gifts accounted for 54.8 million transactions, a 31% increase from the same period in 2004. The most popular online shopping day was Monday May 2nd, with 5.43 million transactions valued at $473 million. Online candy sales for Mothers day gifts remained flat, although chocolate sales is reported to have increased 56%. Surprisingly, online flower purchases decreased 13% in 2005.

The Verisign study was conducted through a process of compiling statistics through an analysis of online sales volume processed through Verisign Payment Services, which handles transactions for 135,000 online retailers or over 37% of all North American e-commerce.