PayPal: IMRG Capgemini Sales Index for February 2009

Cameron McLean, PayPal's general manager for UK merchant services, said: "We saw a significant boost in e-commerce payments in the UK at the start of February as a result of the heavy snowfall, which encouraged many people snowed in at home to visit the online high street. The good news is that this didn't significantly tail off with the thaw, and online sales remained strong for the rest of the month.

"IMRG Capgemini shows that people are still flocking online, with total online sales in February up 12.2% year on year. It's a trend confirmed by PayPal's experience: we've seen a 50% increase in the number of unique visitors to our UK website over the last 12 months, increasing our lead as Britain's most visited financial services website.

"The IMRG Capgemini figures report a 37% year on year fall in gift sales in February, partly reflecting the fact that Mother's Day falls later this year than in 2008. And our own consumer research told us that the number of people who intended to buy Valentine's presents had dropped by almost 10% year on year, although many retailers accepting PayPal have seen strong Valentine's sales this year."