Mother’s Day Spending Projected to Reach $19.9B
WASHINGTON -- After splurging on tablets and smartphones, beauty supplies, apparel and jewelry for Mom last year, consumers this year will celebrate Mother’s Day by keeping practicality in mind, the National Retail Federation reports. Americans will spend an average of $162.94 on their mothers this year, down from a survey high of $168.94 last year.
Total spending is projected to reach $19.9 billion, according to the federation's 2014 Mother’s Day Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.
“As one of the most universally celebrated holidays, retailers will take this opportunity to attract Mother’s Day shoppers with promotions on ladies’ apparel items, health and beauty products, jewelry and even restaurant options,” said Matthew Shay, federation president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “Now fully into spring, retailers are hoping consumer sentiment and spending intentions continue to grow as we round out one of the busiest retail seasons of the year and prepare for summer.”
Most consumers will acknowledge their appreciation of their mothers with a greeting card (81.3%), although it appears some offspring will go out of their way to look for special gifts. Two-thirds of those celebrating will buy Mom her favorite flowers, spending $2.3 billion, and 33.5% will look for spring sweaters and blouses, spending $1.7 billion on apparel and accessory items. Mom’s offspring will also buy books and compact discs ($480 million), housewares or gardening tools ($812 million), personal experience gifts such as a day at the spa ($1.5 billion), jewelry ($3.6 billion), and outings such as brunch or dinner ($3.8 billion).
Having spent the last few years treating mom to electronic gifts such as tablets, smartphones and cameras, Americans this year might have less incentive to give such items: 13.1% say they will buy Mom a consumer electronic item and spend $1.7 billion, down from $2.3 billion last year.
However, if Mom does have her eye on something special for herself, gift cards could be the solution: 43.3% of those shopping will buy her a gift card, up from 41.5% last year; total spending on gift cards is projected to reach $2.1 billion, up from $2 billion last year.
Many shoppers will head to specialty stores to find gifts (33.5%), but others will shop at department stores (32.4%), discount stores (24%) and online (29%).
The survey found 18- to 24-year-olds are the most likely to shop at department stores: 51.6% will visit one in search for their perfect gift for Mom. But it’s 25- to 34-year-olds who will spend the most, shelling out $216.53 on average.
Nearly two-thirds (63.9%) of those surveyed say they will shop for their mother or stepmother, while 22.5% will shop for their wives, 9.2% will shop for their daughters and 6.6% will shop for their grandmothers.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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