Showering Moms With Love: Mother's Day Sales Anticipated To Hit All-Time Highs

Mother’s Day 2023 is expected to be a triumph for retailers, as consumers were likely to splurge a record $35.7 billion on gifts to honor the significant women in their lives.

What Happened: The $35.7 billion figure, issued by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, marks a nearly $4 billion leap from 2022’s then-record high of $31.7 billion, signaling a robust consumer spending trend.

NRF CEO Matthew Shay highlighted that Mother’s Day presents an opportunity for Americans to show their appreciation and admiration for the maternal figures in their lives. This year, a record-breaking average spend of $274.02 per person is expected, driven primarily by the 35-44 age group who shelled out an impressive average of $382.26 on Mother’s Day gifts.

Traditional gifts including flowers and greeting cards are expected to remain the most popular, with 74% of celebrants opting for the classics. Special outings, including dinners or brunches, also remained popular, with 60% of consumers expected to take that route.

However, it was in the categories of jewelry, electronics, and special outings that consumers really dug deep, with expected spending coming in at $7.8 billion, $4 billion, and $5.6 billion respectively.

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Phil Rist, Prosper’s executive vice president of strategy, noted the continued growth in popularity of experiential gifts, with nearly one-third of celebrants planning to give a gift of experience. Further, while online shopping maintained its popularity, department stores made a strong comeback this year, pointing to an evolving retail landscape.

Speaking of department stores, Kohl’s Corp KSS, is set to issue first quarter earnings on May 24. Investors are expecting the retail chain to issue a loss of 42 cents per share, on revenues of $3.33 billion.

Simialry, Nordstrom Inc JWN, another popular retail chain, is set to issue first quarter earnings on May 31. Investors are expecting the company to issue a loss of 8 cents per share, on revenues of $3.13 billion.

Despite the surge in spending, thoughtful and unique gifts were still a priority for many, with 47% of respondents highlighting the importance of finding different items, and 42% favoring gifts that create special memories.

Moreover, local and small businesses, specialty stores, and discount stores are seeing increased patronage, the NRF said, a trend driven by the 46% of consumers showing interest in product subscription boxes.

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