Moonpig reported the strongest week of trading in its history in the run up to Valentine’s Day.

The online greetings card and gifting etailer said it expected its full-year revenue for the year to April 30 to be “approximately double” its sales of £173m the previous year following “the strongest ever trading week in the group’s history ahead of Valentine’s Day”.

Moonpig said it has seen a “significant increase in demand” across the first half of its current financial year, which had continued into its third quarter, with purchase frequency “unusually elevated due to Covid-19-related restrictions”. 

The business said it had also recorded an uplift in average order value as shoppers unable to see loved ones attached gifts to their orders.

This, alongside increased marketing activity to accelerate customer acquisitions, is expected to drive substantial full-year sales growth for the online retailer.

The retailer said that “levels of customer purchase frequency and elevated gift-attach rates are both expected to moderate as lockdown restrictions ease” so its guidance for its upcoming financial year remained unchanged.

Moonpig also stressed that its sales momentum had incurred additional costs such as increased staffing levels, which meant that underlying EBITDA margin for the current financial year would be broadly flat year on year.

Moonpig made a £1.2bn debut on the stock market earlier this month.