Consumers Will Still Spend for Mother's Day, Just Not as Much: Survey

Mother's Day might not be as rosy for moms this year, with consumers planning on slightly scaling back on the quantity of gifts they buy for the holiday. According to NRF's 2008 Mother's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, consumers will spend an average of $138.63 this year, compared to $139.14 last year. Total consumer spending is expected to reach $15.8 billion.
 
While the majority of consumers will invest in one major gift (such as jewelry) for mom, they are likely to spend at least some money in supermarkets on categories including flowers (customers are expected to spend $2.0 billion overall on flowers), gift cards/gift certificates ($1.6 billion), housewares and gardening tools ($696 million), and greeting cards ($672 million).
 
The majority of consumers shopping for Mother's Day gifts will head to specialty stores (35.0 percent), discount stores (25.7 percent), and department stores (28.8 percent). Others will shop at specialty clothing stores (6.6 percent), online (18.3 percent), and through catalogs (3.4 percent).
 
Young adults aged 18-24, many of whom have wives, mothers, grandmothers, and sisters, will spend the most at an average of $170.71. The 25-34 year-old age group will spend an average of $153.17, followed by 35-44 year-olds who will spend an average of $145.86.
 
The NRF 2008 Mother's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to Mother's Day. The poll of 8,180 consumers was conducted from April 1-8, 2008. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.
X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds