Higher-ticket items look to be the big sellers this Mother's Day, according to a recent survey published by the National Retail Federation (NRF). The majority of the 84 percent of consumers celebrating Mother's Day will put their hard-earned cash into one major gift for mom, instead of several smaller gifts.

"Consumers are spending their discretionary money on one nice item," says Kathy Grannis, spokeswoman for NRF. Dollars spent on mom this year will drop to an average of $138.63, versus $139.14 spent last year. This year marks the first decline in average consumer spending for Mother's Day since the NRF's first Mother's Day consumer poll in 2003.

Consumers may spend less on flowers: $26.41 on average versus $27.59 in 2007, according to the NRF survey, which is based on answers from 8,180 consumers, polled from April 1-8. And they are more likely to spend on items like electronics and jewelry. The younger set of consumers, ages 18 to 24, expects to spend the most this holiday with an average of $170.01, compared to the $145.86 projected by 35- to 44-year-olds.

Moms are unlikely to benefit too much from the economic stimulus checks so many households will be receiving — only a small portion of those households will have their checks in hand by Mother's Day on May 11.  

--Morgan Schimminger
mschimminger@safnow.org

 

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