Mother's Day Consumer Spending Expected To Reach $32 Billion.

A word to clothing retailers, jewelry stores and flower delivery services: your radio advertising for Mother's Day is a wiser investment than ever.

According to the just-released results of the annual survey from National Retail Foundation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, consumer spending for the holiday is expected to hit another record high this year, up 12.8% from 2021's $28.1 billion to an estimated $31.7 billion. Spend has grown steadily even through the pandemic, up 37% since 2018.

That's driven by 84% of adults in the U.S. who plan on celebrating Mother’s Day, according to the results of the survey of nearly 8.600 consumers conducted in April, with a per-person spend up 11.5% from last year's average $220.48 to $245.76 for 2022.“Consumers are eager to find memorable ways to honor their mothers and other important women in their lives, and are willing to spend a little extra on this sentimental holiday,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay says.

What a significantly larger number of consumers are spending on this year is jewelry (up from 34% to 41%, translating to a total estimated spend of $7 billion), clothing and accessories (39% to 45%) and special outings such as dinner or brunch (49% to 57%, with an average $40.90 spend), although all purchasing categories show greater potential spending vs. 2021. Leading all categories as usual are greeting cards (75%) and flowers (72%), but also notable is an increase in Mother’s Day shoppers planning to give 'experience gifts' such as concert or sporting event tickets, from 23% last year to a record-high 27% in 2021.

Online purchasing of Mother's Day gifts is planned by more than one in three consumers (36%), while 30% plan to shop at department stores, 27% at specialty stores and 23% at local small businesses. Nearly four in ten (39%) show interest in giving product subscription services such as Birchbox or Stitch Fix as gifts this year. And note to ad copywriters: driving most gift-buying for Mom is finding something unique or different (most important to 46% of consumers) or one that creates a special memory (41%).