Mother’s Day spending to hit $21.4 billion this year
Spending on mom will fall just short of last year’s record, market experts say
From Staff Reports
ATLANTA – Gift spending in Georgia for Mother’s Day isn’t expected to break last year’s record, but moms at least will be back in the neighborhood, retail officials say.
The Georgia Retail Association says family spending for Mother’s Day will average $172.22 this year, down 41 cents from the record $172.63 last year. The spending average is up about $10 from 2014.
Nationally, association officials said, Mother’s Day spending is expected to reach $21.4 billion, with 84 percent of U.S. consumers saying they’ll celebrate the day in some fashion.
“It’s wonderful to see families wanting to celebrate and honor their mothers, and we expect near record spending once again,” GRA President/CEO Randy Miller said. “Georgia’s economy continues to improve, which should bode well for Peach State retailers who price items right and take advantage of the expected increased sales opportunities.”
The Georgia group is a partner of the National Retail Federation, which surveyed consumers to find out what they intended to spend for Mother’s Day.
The NRF survey found 35 percent of shoppers planned to spend a combined $4.2 billion on jewelry; 55 percent said they would spend $4.1 billion on special meals; two-thirds are to spend $2.4 billion on flowers; 43 percent will spend $2.2 billion on gift cards; $1.9 billion will be spent on clothing (35 percent) and consumer electronics (14 percent), and 23 percent will spend $1.6 billion on personal services, like a spa day. Greeting cards are expected to be the most commonly purchased gift, with 78 percent of those surveyed saying they’ll buy at least one, but they account for only $792 million of planned spending.
When searching for the perfect gift, the survey found, 33 percent of consumers go to department stores, 29 percent to specialty stores and 23 percent to a local small business. About 27 percent will shop online, up from 25 percent last year.
The survey of 7,000 consumers was conducted April 5-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
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