In a year which, for many people, Mother’s Day will be celebrated virtually, what will be the biggest Mother’s Day shopping trends of 2021? How do Americans plan to spend on Mother’s Day this year?
To find how consumers planned to celebrate mother, we commissioned a survey through InMobi Pulse, InMobi’s mobile market research solution. In April, we polled over 1,100 people across the U.S., asking them whether they would even be celebrating Mother’s Day this year, how they planned to celebrate and what they were planning on buying Mom (if anything) for her special day.
Here’s what the survey shows.
One thing we were curious about was whether consumers would even bother getting anything for Mom this year. With Americans still dealing with the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, would any annual Mother’s Day plans still occur?
What we found, however, was that the majority (75%) of consumers expect to spend the same amount or more this year compared to 2020. Overall, 65% of those celebrating Mother’s Day this year will make a gift or other purchase.
While most will be buying Mother’s Day gifts this year, likely fewer people are celebrating this year than in 2020. According to research from last year from the National Retail Federation (NRF), over 80% said they would be celebrating the holiday then. I predict that total spending this holiday season will likely top $20 billion this year, as the NRF last year predicted that Mother’s Day spending would be close to $27 billion.
According to our research, Americans would be spending an average of anywhere between $20 and $100 for Mom this Mother’s Day (69% said they would be spending this much in 2021). Additionally, total spending from online shopping aficionados will be greater than from those planning to shop in person.
Most of this spending, however, won’t be happening too far in advance. Most purchases (60%) will take place one to three weeks before Mother’s Day, our research found.
Who is most likely to be buying gifts this Mother’s Day? According to our research, men are significantly more likely than women to shell out over $100. Additionally, consumers between the ages of 25 and 34 and 45 to 54 will spend more than other age groups.
According to our research, mobile will play a major role in how Americans learn about and buy gifts for Mom this year. Consumers use their mobile device on average 22% more often than other devices to make a purchase this Mother’s Day. In addition, 33% said they will shop using their mobile device, versus 27% who said they would do their shopping on a desktop computer or laptop.
Our research also found that 36% of Mother’s Day purchasers will look for gift ideas online (via online ads or online browsing).
It’s also worthwhile to note that mobile is where Moms themselves spend a lot of time. Around 68% of moms spend three hours or more per day on mobile devices, while 40% of Moms spend between three and five hours per day on mobile devices.
What will Mom be getting this Mother’s Day? According to our research, it will be more than flowers and gifts for the home, although flowers unsurprisingly were the top gift idea this year. Other top ideas include gift cards, clothing, jewelry and special outings like a nice dinner.
Top 10 Mother’s Day Gifts for 2021:
With just a short amount of time left before Mother’s Day, what can retailers do to ensure success this holiday season? Based on our research, we recommend following these four tips:
Matthew Kaplan has over a decade of digital marketing experience, working to support the content goals of the world’s biggest B2B and B2C brands. He is a passionate app user and evangelist, working to support diverse marketing campaigns across devices.
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