A Spring Sales Event Driven by Emotion Mother’s Day Profiler 2016 Brought to you by THE MEDIACENTER © 2016 THE MEDIACENTER. All rights reserved.

Pieces in Place for Profitable Promotions Today’s general economic conditions are significantly better than 12 months ago. With more people working, increasing wages and even lower gasoline prices, retailers should be upbeat about Mother’s Day, although careful planning is required to maximize sales. Easter is 3 weeks earlier this year, providing a longer advertising and promotional period for Mother’s Day. May temperatures are forecast to be much above average across the northern half of the country and above average from California to the Carolinas. Consumers are still cautious. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index® declined to 92.2 for February from January’s 97.8. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reported that the most Americans ever will save rather than spend their tax returns.

Better Than Last Year Would Be the Best Ever With the NRF and other sources’ Mother’s Day retail forecasts released too late for your planning, this Profiler looks at NRF’s 2015’s forecast. It was $21.2 billion total and the highest average spending per person of the 12 years of its survey, at $172.63. According to the NRF Mother’s Day Consumer Survey, 62.5% of consumers were buying a gift for mothers or stepmothers, the largest group; however, a higher percentage of wives, daughters, grandmothers, sisters and friends were to receive gifts for 2014. Department stores were still the first choice for Mother’s Day gifts, increasing to 33.4%. Specialty stores were second, at 28.2%, but declined significantly from 2014’s 33.5%. Online purchases were to account for 25.0%, compared to 29.0% for 2014.

Florists See Green for Mother’s Day Florists reported that Mother’s Day 2015 was quite profitable, as 60% of those responding to a Society of American Florists (SAF) survey said their sales increased compared to 2014, and 53% of them said the increase was 1% to 10%. In a companion survey of consumers, the SAF found that 35% Americans gave fresh flowers and plants, which was a significant increase over 2013 and 2014’s 31%. Americans spent more too, a $50 average compared to $41 for Mother’s Day 2014. Although The Produce News did not report any sales numbers, conversations with non-floral businesses, such as supermarkets, indicated they experienced robust sales. Garden centers also profited, especially those in the Midwest.

Restaurateurs! Prepare for a Crowd According to data from OpenTable, an online restaurant reservation service, more brunches occur during Mother’s Day weekend than any other time of the year and it’s third behind Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve as the most popular day to dine out. OpenTable also advises early reservations for Mother’s Day, as there are 300% more reservations on that day than a typical Sunday. In addition, 50% of diners make their reservations one week in advance and 25% wait until Saturday. TDn2K, a restaurant industry analysis firm, reported its research shows that each fast casual restaurant increases sales by $1,460 and each casual dining restaurant by $7,581 for Mother’s Day.

Jewelers Have Nearly Flawless Mother’s Day According to The Centurion, an information hub for prestige jewelers, 50% of the jewelers responding to its 2015 Mother’s Day Sales Success Index indicated that their sales increased when compared to 2014. More of the surveyed jewelers (32%) said the average amount consumers spent increased while 21% said the average decreased. Items priced less than $500 and in the $1,500–$3,000 range were the most popular price points for 38% of jewelers. The most popular jewelry gifts were designer and brand names at 34% of jewelers. Diamond jewelry was second at 29%, but charms and beads were much less popular than previous Mother’s Days.

Advertising Strategies Suggest Mother’s Day retailers promote a special discount to men who buy multiple gifts for more than one mother in their life and/or when related men of different generations (father/son, uncle/nephew or grandson/grandfather) buy multiple gifts together. Suggest that complementary Mother’s Day retailers – jeweler, florist, greeting cards stores, local clothing store, etc. – create special Mother’s Day gift bundles, promoted in each store and advertised with combined budgets. Restaurants that need to increase their Mother’s Day business can promote a meal discount, a free bottle of champagne or special dessert to motivate consumers to book their reservations earlier than a week in advance.

New Media Strategies Use social media pages to promote a Mother’s Day photo gallery, inviting people to upload photos and videos of them with their mother. Ask visitors to tell the story of one way their mother affected their life. Invite people to post videos of their mother opening her Mother’s Day gift or ask people to post videos of their children explaining in their words the meaning of Mother’s Day. Have a brainstorming session with the staff to create a list of 5 or 6 “mother personas” (with some humor with recommended merchandise that matches with those personas as Mother’s Day gifts. Post two per week during the 3 to 4 weeks prior to Mother’s Day.

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