The National Retail Foundation (NRF) anticipates that Mother’s Day 2019 will be the biggest to date. According to the figures based on the survey, Americans will be spending a record $25 billion on Mother’s Day gifts and outings.
The total amount isn’t divided over the entire population of the United States, but by about 86 percent who identify themselves as celebrating the day, according to the NRF. That breaks down to an average of $196 per person. Though those in the age bracket of 35 to 44 spend even more, averaging $248.
What is most significant for those in marketing is that 81% of customers seek guidance for gifts from the seller. For sellers, that means Mother’s Day offers an opportunity to direct millions of people to that perfect gift for mom.
Marketing Curation for Mother’s Day
An Ometria blog on Mother’s Day marketing referenced the way brands can capitalize on the desire for inspiration with specially “created gift guides for the occasion, bringing together a carefully curated selection of the perfect gifts.” As they point out, such guides promote both “product bundling and cross-selling” in much the same way that fashion is promoted online with a ‘shop the look.’”
Of course, the more personalized the recommendations, the more likely they are to resonate with the customers. Brands that already have data on buying preferences have something more to build on than those that only have general data on what has proven popular in the past.
But even those brands that are curating in a general way can direct customers toward fine-tuning categories for the gifts. For example, on Macy’s Mother’s Day Gifts & Gift Ideas shoppers are informed that there are 1123 items to choose from, an amount many would find overwhelming to filter through.
Specializing Gifts
To help them winnow down the options, Macy’s offers various categories, like beauty & fragrances, handbags & accessories, jewelry & watches, apparel, and the tech shop, as well as price ranges. While such a wide range of categories makes sense in a department store or a seller like Amazon, retailers with more specialized merchandise offer fewer categories, as Nordstrom does.
Etsy is even more specialized and highlights its own brand identity in offering personalized gifts for Mother’s Day. “One-of-a-kind finds for every kind of Mom” is what it offers.
The appeal of “one-of-a-kind” marketing is another of the major trends identified by NRF. It found that “the most important factor” for 44 percent of consumers was finding “something unique” for the occasion. It also relates to what Ometria advises those marketers who want to win customers on Mother’s Day: “emotive language that resonates with the recipient and adds a personal touch.”
Of course, tasteful accessories are an evergreen choice, so visiting a local jewelry shop to find a special piece is always a good backup option.
Another thing Etsy has going for it is jewelry. Jewelry makes up a fair share of its offerings and is the category choice for 35 percent of Mother’s Day shoppers. Spending on jewelry is expected to add up to $5.2 billion. This is an amount that the NRF says “represents 31 percent of the expected increase over last year” when Mother’s Day spending amounted to $23.1 billion in total.
There are literally billions of opportunities for marketing around mom this year. People who are primed to buy and who want to be shown ideas are the most receptive to marketing messages.
