Online shopping for Valentine’s Day jumped 321% over past decade

Miami, United States, Feb 13 (efe-epa).- Online shopping around Valentine’s Day has increased by 321 percent since 2011 and even posted a four-digit growth in the case of some Latin American countries, according to a study by global payments and technology company Mastercard.

The so-called emotional or sentimental spending around Valentine’s Day, which includes the purchase of gifts such as jewelry and flowers and dining in restaurants, around every Feb.14, rose 92 percent in case of online transactions in the last 10 years, according to the Mastercard Love Index.

The annual study conducted in 19 countries showed that online transactions on Valentine’s Day in Latin America also grew considerably.

While Colombia led the way with a whopping 4207 percent increase in the last decade, followed by Chile with a growth of 3,277 percent and Mexico with 628 percent.

Spending on sentimental gifts in Argentina grew by 1,961 percent, while in Chile, it posted a growth of 1,124 percent and in Colombia of 460 percent.

“These numbers show a spike in the purchase of gifts and experiences with respect to 10 years ago,” including traditional items and outings such as flowers and restaurants, a press release said.

In Chile, there was a 25.33 percent increase in card transactions on the purchase of flowers, followed by Argentina, which saw a staggering rise of 2,436 percent, and Colombia, which witnessed a 776 percent growth.

Last year alone, consumers spent more than $200 million on flower bouquets across the world, the study said.

“In case of restaurants, Chile leads with an increase of 8,531 percent, followed by Argentina (1,299 percent) and Colombia (9,10 percent),” the report revealed.

Online spending on jewelry has also seen year-on-year growth over the past decade, with a global increase of 20 percent since 2011.

In the Latin American region, Chile led the transactions for these purchases with a growth of 5,504 percent, followed by Argentina with 408 percent and Brazil 325 percent. EFE-EPA

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