Mothers Day shopping trends analysed

Tuesday, March 14, 2017 - 10:47 by Sarah Collinson

Figures published this month by Criteo show that Mother’s Day remains a major event on the retail calendar, with people in the UK spending almost £930 million on the day itself last year and an even bigger investment expected to be made in 2017.

Looking specifically at shopping online, the report revealed that consumers looking to keep their mothers happy with a gift will tend to fill their baskets with items relating to gardening and housekeeping. In fact, there is a spike in the sales of vacuum cleaners in the run-up to Mother’s Day each year, although it is worth pointing out that these stats do not take into account whether or not such gifts are received with enthusiasm or disappointment.

As spring gets underway, the fact that the sales of gardening implements and related items almost doubles is perhaps unsurprising. But of course the availability of safe shopping online means that consumers need not be limited to a narrow range of products, but can instead indulge any of their mothers’ other interests and hobbies if they wish.

Mother’s Day is just one of the many retail events throughout the year which helps to drive spending and establish trends in the market, although it also results in peaks and troughs of consumer activity. And while Brits may splash out close to a billion pounds collectively to treat their mums this year, this event still pales in comparison to the year’s biggest shopping days.

Black Friday pulls in over twice as much cash both online and in-store, ramping up the anticipation for Christmas and playing off the bargain hunting desires of shoppers. So even the return of the warmer weather and the change in habits that this brings about each spring is not enough to overturn it.