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With Mother’s Day approaching in the U.S. on May 10, most consumers surveyed by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation in early April appear ready to recognize the moms in their lives, despite prevailing economic circumstances. What can retailers expect from this annual event?
Across All Channels.
- While 17% of consumers across all channels noted that they don’t celebrate Mother’s Day at all, fully half (55.8%) anticipate spending about the same amount for this holiday as they did in 2008, and – not unexpectedly – one fifth (20.3%) will be cutting back at least somewhat.
- One third expects to purchase Mother’s Day items in specialty stores such as jewelers, florists, greeting card/gifts outlets and electronics specialists, but discount stores and department stores are also favored locations.
- All told, consumers each anticipate spending a combined net average of $123.89 for this occasion, which is about 12 percent lower than last year.
Online.
- Approximately one fifth (18.2%) of consumers expect to buy Mother’s Day gifts online.
- Of those, fully two-thirds expect to spend at about the same level as last year, and 14.6% even intend to spend a bit more than last year (vs. just 7.2% of consumers across all channels).
- To be sure, online shoppers represent a small segment of the overall population and anticipated spending overall is down a bit from 2008. However, retailers should look at online consumers for sales potential in a number of categories. For example, 42.4% of online shoppers anticipate buying jewelry (up a tad from 2008), compared with 27.8% across consumers in all channels combined. Furthermore, the average online jewelry shopper expects to spend a net average of $34.33 in this category, compared with $20.07 across consumers shopping in all channels. Books and CDs, gift certificates, consumer electronics and computer related goods, and personal services such as facials and spa visits also appeal to online shoppers.
- While down somewhat from 2008 levels, the average online shopper expects to spend a combined net average of $181.88 for Mother’s Day this year – that is, 47% more than the combined net average for consumers across all channels.
Interestingly, it appears that moms and stepmoms of online shoppers may fare best. Fully 80% of online shoppers celebrating Mother’s Day will buy a gift for their moms and stepmoms this year – compared with just 62.4% of consumers across all channels. Are we, as online shoppers, just a more generous lot? Maybe, or perhaps we’ve simply discovered that gift giving with the help of the Internet is just that much easier and more convenient. This point goes far beyond my research purview (full disclosure: I am a mom and we absolutely recognize this holiday in our family) – but interesting all the same.
For further details of this survey, including a comparison between 2008 and 2009 data, please see the results summary available to all Shop.org members, as well as the NRF press release.
Best – Fiona
