Forget me not on Valentine’s Day - 7 February 2008
The UK is a nation of last-minute lotharios, according to data from Yell.com, the online service from Yellow Pages. While we all want to demonstrate our love for our partners on Valentine’s Day, it would appear that some people’s planning only starts at 9am on the day itself.On February 14 last year, searches for ‘florists’ on Yell.com peaked at a whopping 600 per cent above average between 9am and 11am – suggesting that people arriving at work were spurred to emergency action by colleagues. Equally, the rush to make last-minute table reservations caused searches for ‘restaurants’ to peak at midday at 236 per cent (1) above average. Yell.com’s data analysts confidently predict they will see the same trend again this year.
Yell.com also trawled its database of more than two million UK business listings and found that searches for lingerie shops peaked at noon on Valentine’s Day, as the nation’s wannabe Romeos planned a mad dash to the shops in their lunch hour.
When analysing whether the ‘day of love’ prompted people to propose, Yell.com saw the trend reverse. Searches for ‘jewellers’ experienced a significant rise (2) from January 15 until the big day, demonstrating that bigger decisions are perfectly planned and made well in advance of Valentine’s Day.
If February 14 is the day to say ‘I love you’, then February 15 is most definitely the day to say ‘I’m sorry’, as searches for florists hit a secondary peak at 10am the morning after. An hour later searches for lingerie shops also saw a secondary high, though the data could not reveal how effective the lingerie was as an apology present.
Helen Stevenson, chief marketing officer at Yell said: “It’s fascinating to see how many people make last-minute plans on Valentine’s Day – but we’ll never know how many act on romantic impulse and how many simply forgot the date! If you forget Valentine’s Day this year, Yell.com which has more than two million UK business listings, is the ideal place to sort all your Valentine’s needs – whether you are searching a week in advance or on the day itself.”
Yell.com also reveals the top ten most romantic towns based on the volume of Valentine’s-related searches (3) made in the run up to the big day. The devoted town of Derby tops the chart of those looking to dish up a little romance while Lincoln lovers rank second. Adoring Aberdonians do the Scots proud on the love front as they sit snugly in third.
Belfast bounds with romantics as it enjoys fourth place ranking and the affectionate folk of Norwich come in fifth. A swell of love along the coast means Southampton makes sixth spot, with Chester, Nottingham, Guildford and Reading completing the top ten.
Top Ten most romantic towns
1. Derby
2. Lincoln
3. Aberdeen
4. Belfast
5. Norwich
6. Southampton
7. Chester
8. Nottingham
9. Guildford
10.Reading
For further information about this press release, please contact the Yell Press Office.
(1) Based in the average number of searches for ‘restaurants’ and ‘florists’ made on the days between and including January 8 – January 13, 2007
(2) Based on the average number of searches made for ‘jewellers’ between January 15 and February 14 2007. This time period represents the biggest peak for jewellery-related searches outside of the traditional peak at Christmas.
(3) Based on searches for ‘jewellery’, ‘jewellers’, ‘florist’, ‘florists’, ‘restaurant’, ‘restaurants’ and ‘lingerie’ between January 1 and January 22, 2008
Yell
Yell is a leading international directories business operating in classified advertising markets in the UK, US, Spain and Latin America through printed, online and telephone-based media. Yell’s principal brands include: in the UK, Yellow Pages, Yell.com and Yellow Pages 118 24 7; in the US, Yellow Book and Yellowbook.com; and in Spain, Paginas Amarillas and PaginasAmarillas.es. All these brands are trademarks.
Yell.com
Launched in 1996, Yell.com is a leading local search engine and a major online advertising medium for UK companies. Yell.com provides users with a direct route to finding a business, shop or service online using keyword, type of business, or company name and location as search criteria. Users can review relevant search results and quickly determine the right business for their needs.
Yell.com’s database of more than two million UK business listings including 208,000 searchable advertisers (September 2007) can be accessed via the web site www.yell.com or on mobile phones. In January 2007, Yell.com launched two free mobile services, application and browser based, making its business listings, maps and directions available to all mobile internet users.
www.yell.com provides several other features in addition to business details, such as zoom-enabled maps with directions, closest car parks and other useful local information. Personalisation features are available including downloadable toolbars and a personal Yell.com address book to keep a record of regularly used businesses.
