Search Data: Roses Aren't Always Red

Valentine's Day might be considered a "Hallmark holiday," but it carries expectations for both consumers and retailers.

SLI Systems recently analyzed 1.2 million consumer searches across floral sites, and their study revealed some interesting insights such as "rose" searches comprised nearly 20 percent of the total site searches during their month-long analysis. Interest in red roses specifically, however, has fallen. The top five rose colors for Feb. 2017 are:

- Red (28 percent) - decrease from 47 percent in 2015

- White (21 percent) - increase from 1 percent in 2015

- Blue (18 percent) - Increase from 6 percent in 2015

- Rainbow (17 percent) 

- Purple (16 percent)

Additional 2017 Valentine's Day Flower Study Findings:

- Last-Minute Giving - The highest volume of flower searches were conducted on Monday, Feb. 6, just a week before the holiday. The 6th saw 13 percent more queries than Feb. 2, the second-busiest day, indicating a frenzy of last-minute flower buying.

- California is For Lovers - The top five U.S. states searching most for flower gifts were, California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, in order. California search volume was 31 percent higher than the next most active state: New York.

- Cheaper Dates? - While less than 1 percent of flower givers searched for "sale" items, just over 6 percent of those looking for roses searched for "dozen," and only 4 percent searched for "long-stem."