If a recent study by Internet network provider VeriSign is an indication, mothers received more jewelry this Mother’s Day than any other gift. The jewelry category showed a 79% increase in online spending activity, according to a VeriSign survey. Mother’s Day-related purchases accounted for $4.4 billion in online sales, up 24% from last year.
The study is based on online sales between April 25 and May 8 processed through VeriSign Payment Services, which represents more than 135,000 online retailers.
Jewelry far outpaced other traditional Mother’s Day categories such as flowers and candy. Diamond purchases were up 101%, with an average purchase price of $517. Online spending for candy was flat, with overall spending on chocolates up 35% from last year. Online spending on flowers decreased 13%.
There were 54.8 million online transactions tracked by VeriSign for the study, representing an activity increase of more than 31% over last year. The peak online shopping day during the study was May 2, the Monday before the holiday, with 5.43 million transactions worth $473 million.