Consumers to Spend a Record $35.7 Billion on Mother’s Day, Says NRF Survey
For those 84 percent of U.S. adults expected to celebrate Mother’s Day, it’s time to start shopping.
Consumers plan to spend $35.7 billion on Mother’s Day this year, nearly $4 billion more than last year’s record high of $31.7 billion, according to the annual survey released Thursday by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
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“Mother’s Day provides Americans with an opportunity to honor important women in their lives,” said Matthew Shay, president and chief executive officer of NRF. “As people make plans to celebrate this year, retailers are prepared to help shoppers find gifts of appreciation and admiration for those they want to recognize on this special day.”
According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $274.02 per person, the highest in the history of the survey and up from the previous record high of $245.76 in 2022. The top spenders are those ages 35 to 44, who are expected to spend an average of $382.26 on Mother’s Day. Of those celebrating, most (57 percent) are purchasing gifts for a mother or stepmother, followed by a wife (23 percent), or daughter (12 percent).
So what are they planning to buy?
Similar to previous years, the most popular gifts to give are flowers (74 percent), greeting cards (74 percent), and special outings such as dinner or brunch (60 percent). Consumers will spend a total of $7.8 billion on jewelry, $5.6 billion on special outings and $4 billion on electronics.
Expected spending is up across all gift categories, but gifts of jewelry, electronics and apparel are the primary drivers of growth this year. Not only are consumers planning to spend more on these gift categories, but more consumers are interested in gifting these items than ever before.
Where consumers are shopping has also changed this year.
“While most consumers shopped online last year for the perfect Mother’s Day gift, we are seeing just as many people turn to department stores as a shopping destination this year,” said Phil Rist, Prosper’s executive vice president of strategy. “Gifts of experience continue to grow in popularity, with nearly one-third of those celebrating Mother’s Day planning to give a gift of experience.”
As for the criteria in purchasing gifts, respondents said the most important factors include finding items that are unique or different (47 percent), or those that create a special memory (42 percent). In addition to online (34 percent) and department stores (34 percent), consumers are planning to shop at specialty stores (30 percent), local and small businesses (24 percent) and discount stores (23 percent). In addition, more are looking at product subscription boxes, with 46 percent interested in this option, up from 39 percent last year.
NRF surveyed 8,164 U.S. consumers from April 3 to 11.
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