Mother’s Day spending to soar with highest per person spend on record

In good news for retailers, consumers are expected to go all out for Mother’s Day this year.

Consumers plan to spend a total of $35.7 billion on Mother’s Day (May 14) this year, nearly $4 billion more than last year’s record high of $31.7 billion, according to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Consumers 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 to 44, who are expected to spend an average of $382.26 on Mother’s Day. Eighty-four percent of U.S. adults are expected to celebrate the holiday.

In addition to online (34%) and department stores (34%), consumers are also planning to shop for Mother’s Day at specialty stores (30%), local and small businesses (24%), and discount stores (23%). And more are looking at product subscription boxes, with 46% interested in this option, up from 39% last year.

“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 VP 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.”

As seen in previous years, the most popular gifts to give are flowers (74%), greeting cards (74%) and special outings such as dinner or brunch (60%). Consumers will spend a total of $7.8 billion on jewelry, $5.6 billion on special outings and $4 billion on electronics.

Expected spending is up across all gift categories, with gifts of jewelry, electronics and apparel the primary drivers of growth this year. Not only are consumers planning to spend more on these gift categories, but more consumers are interested in gifting these items than ever before.

Respondents said the most important factors in purchasing a Mother’s Day gift include finding items that are unique or different (47%) or those that create a special memory (42%).

The survey of 8,164 U.S. adult consumers was conducted April 3-11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.