Press
Valentine’s Day 2014 shopping shows purchasing up from last year
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA (February 18, 2014) – Valentine’s Day, traditionally a great day for the romantically inclined, also turned out to be a great day this year for restaurants, pay TV and grocery stores. All of these services recorded customers spending more money with them than in the previous year.
Transaction data was pulled from the debit and credit transactions of cardholding members of credit unions across the country using CO-OP Total Revelation, a data analytics tool from CO-OP Financial Services. The dollar amounts were tracked from February 12-14, 2013, and compared to cardholder spending from February 12-14, 2014.
“Valentine’s Day this year happened to fall on the Friday before the three-day President’s Day weekend, which perhaps fueled additional spending on what is normally a busy day for merchants,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO, CO-OP Financial Services. “That factor combined with an improving economy made Valentine’s Day 2014 a perfect marriage of love and commerce.”
Among the highlights of the CO-OP Total Revelation data:
- Data was tracked for a total of 16 different types of merchants. The grand total for all merchants saw a 19 percent increase in dollars spent in 2014 compared to the previous year.
- Cash withdrawals (individual number of transactions) were up by 18 percent.
- Restaurants showed a 20 percent increase in dollars spent year over year.
- Pay television services showed a 28 percent increase in dollars spent year over year.
- Grocery stores experienced 17 percent more dollars spent in their shops in 2014 compared to the previous year. Grocery stores were, in fact, the top merchant category for 2014 with three million separate transactions and $135 million in spend.
- The only category to show a decline from the previous year was video rentals – down 4 percent.
For more information on CO-OP Total Revelation, visit www.co-opfs.org.
About CO-OP Financial Services
Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and founded in 1981, CO-OP Financial Services is the nation’s largest credit union service organization in terms of number of credit unions, assets and members. The company helps credit unions thrive by providing products and services that make it more convenient for members to do business with them. With a motto of “Be There. Be More,” CO-OP’s products fall into three business lines, including “Locations,” (ATM, shared branching and call center services); “Card Payments” (debit and credit processing) and “Mobile/Virtual” (mobile, online, check imaging, bill pay services). To learn more visit www.co-opfs.org.