Diamonds propel Web sales to sparkle

A surge in online diamond sales helped propel online U.S. Web sales higher in the days leading up to Valentine's Day, two companies that track such data said Wednesday.

VeriSign Inc., which processes more than one-third of all North American e-commerce transactions, said online purchases made from Feb. 1 through Feb. 14 totaled $3.9 billion, up 30 percent year-over-year.

Online diamond sales posted the largest increase during that period, rising nearly 130 percent from a year ago to $1.6 million.

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Elsewhere, comScore Networks said Internet sales in the Flowers, Gifts & Greetings category were $124 million for the week ended Feb. 13, a 40 percent increase from the year-earlier period.

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Valentine's Day is one of the top three holidays for the flowers, gifts & greetings category, along Mother's Day and the December holidays.

For the two weeks ending Feb. 13, online jewelry sales were up 65 percent to $107 million, comScore said.