Consumers plan to spend a total of $35.7 billion on Mother’s Day this year, nearly $4 billion more than last year, according to a new survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
The survey found that 84% of U.S. adults are expected to celebrate the holiday, which this year falls on Sunday, May 14. Most consumers (57%) said they are purchasing gifts for a mother or stepmother, followed by a wife (23%) or daughter (12%).
“Mother’s Day provides Americans with an opportunity to honor important women in their lives,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “As people make plans to celebrate this year, retailers are prepared to help shoppers find gifts of appreciation and admiration for those they want to recognize on this special day.”
Consumers say they plan to spend $274.02 per person, the highest in the history of the survey and up from the previous record high of $245.76 in 2022. The top spenders are those ages 35-44, who are expected to spend an average of $382.26 on Mother’s Day.
The most popular gifts are flowers (74%), greeting cards (74%) and special outings such as dinner or brunch (60%). The top three gift categories in terms of spending are jewelry ($7.8 billion), special outings ($5.6 billion) and electronics ($4 billion).
The top three shopping destinations are online retailers (34%), department stores (34%) and specialty stores (30%), such as gift shops, jewelers, florists or electronics stores.
“While most consumers shopped online last year for the perfect Mother’s Day gift, we are seeing just as many people turn to department stores as a shopping destination this year,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said.
“Gifts of experience continue to grow in popularity, with nearly one-third of those celebrating Mother’s Day planning to give a gift of experience,” Rist said.
The 2023 survey was fielded to 8,164 consumers aged 18+ from April 3 through April 11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.
