NRF: Consumers to spend less on Mother’s Day

Washington, D.C. - Consumers this year will celebrate Mother’s Day keeping practicality in mind. According to NRF’s 2014 Mother’s Day Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, Americans will spend an average of $162.94 on Mother’s Day in 2014, down 3.5% from a survey high of $168.94 in 2013. Total spending is expected to reach $19.9 billion.



Most consumers will purchase a greeting card (81.3%), and two-thirds (66.6%) of those celebrating will buy flowers, spending a total of $2.3 billion, and 33.5% will spend a total of $1.7 billion on apparel and accessory items. Other popular items include books and CDs ($480 million), housewares or gardening tools ($812 million), personal experience gifts like a day at the spa ($1.5 billion), jewelry ($3.6 billion), and special outings like brunch or dinner ($3.8 billion).



About 13% of survey respondents say they will buy a consumer electronic item and will spend a total of $1.7 billion, down 26% from $2.3 billion last year. Spending on gift cards will rise 5% to $2.1 billion from $2 billion in 2013, with 43.3% of consumers purchasing a gift card, up from 41.5% the prior year.



Most shoppers will head to specialty stores to find gifts (33.5%), but others will shop at department stores (32.4%), discount stores (24%), and online (29%).