RYE BROOK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twenty-three percent of consumers plan to shop online for Valentine’s Day gifts, with 9 percent indicating they will spend more money online compared to last year. This represents an increase in online shoppers over the 2009 Valentine’s Day holiday. Further, the majority of consumers will shop for gifts other than the traditional flowers and chocolates.



This is according to the eBillme Online Spending Index, a quarterly survey conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research. The Index polls 1,200 consumers to measure projected online spending for the quarter and the influencing factors. According to the Q1 Index, consumers plan to spend an average of $236 online, which is in line with spending levels from Q1 2009.



This quarter, consumers were also asked if they have decided what purchases they will make for Valentine’s Day. Overall, 47 percent of respondents do not know what to purchase for their loved ones.

Fifty percent of males are unsure about Valentines Day gifts for her.

Forty-five percent of females are unsure about Valentines Day gifts for him.

Consumers who are married or living with their partners responded with more uncertainty.

Consumers become more certain about what to purchase with age. Consumers 65 years old and over responded with more certainty than consumers in the younger demographics.



“Valentine’s Day is an opportunity for retailers to build on holiday sales,” says Samer Forzley, Vice President of Marketing for eBillme. “The number of consumers planning to shop online for Valentine’s gifts and spend more than last year is encouraging news for the eCommerce industry. It’s interesting to see that consumers are looking towards more non-traditional gifts this year but are still in the dark about they will be purchasing. For e-tailers, this means there is still time to market and capture these undecided sales.”



The Online Spending Index is released quarterly by eBillme, the most secure payment option online that enables consumers to pay with cash using online banking and walk-in locations. eBillme offers consumers buyer protection features including satisfaction guarantee, best price, in-transit protection, and fraud protection, in addition to cash-back rewards through the eBillme Rewards program.



For more information or to receive the full findings from this quarter’s Index, please contact Samer Forzley at sforzley@eBillme.com.



About the Index



The Index is based on data collected from an online consumer survey deployed quarterly starting in August 2008, with a sample size of 1,209 respondents. The survey targeted U.S. adults (age 18 +) and was based on representative proportions of gender, ethnicity, and income as compared to the overall U.S. online population. Overall margin of sampling error is ±2.8 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.



The next Index will be released in April 2010. Data from the Index will be posted on the eBillme Web site at http://blog.eBillme.com.



About eBillme

eBillme™ is the most secure way to pay online and the only online payment solution that extends the convenience of online banking to the merchant’s checkout process. The service enhances security for online shoppers, and enables merchants to increase sales while reducing transaction costs. No financial data is exposed and the payment transaction is securely transferred from the customer’s bank to the retailer’s bank. Consumers can shop online, by catalog or through call centers, and pay for their purchases at their bank, credit union, or bill pay portal using the security and convenience of online banking or by paying the bill at over 75,000 walk-in locations. For more information, please visit www.eBillme.com or eBillme’s Online Debt-Free Shopping Mall at http://Shop.eBillme.com.