Mother’s Day : Beyond flowers and giftcards

On the second Sunday of May, we celebrate American moms ! This tradition was first developed by Julia Ward Howe as a call to action to rally for peace during the Civil War. On May 10, in 1908, Anna Jarvis held a ceremony to honor all mothers at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church. This was the first observance of Mother’s Day and led to the officialization of the celebration as a national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.

According to Hallmark, 96% of Americans took part in some way in Mother’s Day in 2015. On average, each person spent 173 USD on gifts, which accounts for a total ammount of 21.2 billion USD. In fact, Mother’s Day is the second-biggest gift-giving holiday in the US, after Xmas. 

At Adintime, we focused on the key characteristics of the Mother’s Day market for you to reach your customers during this sweet celebration.

I ) Celebrating ALL moms

Besides getting their mom or stepmom a gift, 23% of Americans get their wife a Mother’s Day gift.  Moreover, a significant part of the Americans give a present to their grandmother, sister and daughter. Following is a chart presenting who Americans buy their gifts for :

Now let’s focus on what really matters (after love ;) )… The presents !

II) Good revenues for florists, great revenues for jewelers

Unlike other references, we chose to depict Mother’s Day 2015 buyings in term of turnover rather than quantity sold. This business-oriented approach highlights which sectors are actually the more dynamic during Mother’s Day.  

Jewelry and Special outing are actually the categories that generate the most revenue. According to the 2014 Edahn Golan US Jewelry Report, around 10% of Jewelry sales in the US are made in May (second after December). Of course, flowers and giftcards expenses for Mother’s Day rise above one billion USD. Other categories, such as Clothing, Consumer Electronics and Personal Service, claim a big slice of the cake too.

The question is : who made the cake ?

III) Average Mother’s Day spending per person (by age)

In average, Americans under 45 years old spend more than the 173 USD national average. If your target audience is relatively young, your customers could spend as much as 244 USD in average for Mother’s Day !

IV) Favorite Shopping destinations

No place stands out as Americans’ favorite shopping destination : 33% of Americans purchased their gifts in Department stores whereas 28% opted for a Specialty store. Online pruchases are made by 25% of Americans. And these Americans spent more than the ones purchasing in physical locations.

V) 253 USD !

Over the last 4 years, at least 25% of Americans purchased their gifts online. On average, they spent 80 USD more than the national average ! Mother’s Day reflects a tendency : online shopping retail sales are predicted to grow steadily to $370 billion in 2017, up from $231 billion in

1. Make sure to be visible online in May !

And now, our selection of the most creative Mother’s Day ads: