Mother’s Day spending expected to top $23.6 billion, up more than 10%

Consumers don’t mind showering their moms with gifts galore to celebrate Mother’s Day. The average consumer will dole out $186.39 for mom this year on everything from jewelry to dinner out, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Per capita spending is expected to rise 8.22% from last year.

Total spending is expected to be a record $23.6 billion, up 10.2% from a year ago. The report indicates 85% of consumers surveyed plan to celebrate the holiday this year. Matthew Shay, CEO of the NRF, said estimates are the highest number in the survey’s 14-year history.  He said spring is in full bloom and American’s do plan to splurge on Mom this year which is good news for retailers of all sizes.

Retailers look to cash in on this Mother’s Day holiday, which ranks above Easter and Valentine’s Day spending which came at $18.4 billion and $18.2 billion, respectively. The Christmas holiday and back-to-school seasons are the only two that rank higher than Mother’s Day in terms of consumer spending at retail.

Jewelry is a popular choice this year with consumers planning to spend $5 billion with more than one in three shoppers buying some type of jewelry this year. Another big ticket item will include treating mom to dinner or brunch out at her favorite restaurant. About 56% said they will do so for a cumulative spend of $4.2 billion.

Florists and retailers selling flowers will also rake in $2.6 billion this year as 69% of consumers plan to surprise mom with a floral bouquet. Gift cards will also be purchased by 45% of those surveyed for a total spend of $2.5 billion. Clothing and accessories are also a popular item for mom’s gift this year for an aggregate value of $2.1 billion.

Consumer electronics will be purchased by 15% of consumers for roughly $2 billion in cumulative sales. Day spas or personal services will be purchased by one in four consumers. This category, which is largely comprised of local businesses, will enjoy $1.9 billion in spending for this holiday.

The survey found additional spending on jewelry and personal services are up the most from a year ago at 19% and 15%, respectively. The survey results also indicate that 28% of moms said they like “experience” gifts such as concert tickets, this compared to 24% who favored this a year ago.

“Consumers are planning to open up their wallets a little bit more to celebrate the women with the most important jobs in the world on Mother’s Day,” said Prosper’s Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow. “We will see older Millennials (25-34) spend the most, and younger consumers are putting their online shopping skills to good use to purchase their moms the perfect gift.”

She said 35% will shop in department stores, 31% will go to specialty stores and 24% plan to make purchases from local small businesses. About one-third will shop online for the perfect gift, this is up from 27% a year ago.

Analysts say Mother’s Day will be important for retailers in what has been a sluggish first quarter of economic growth in the U.S. Retailer’s will begin reporting their first quarter earnings in the next two weeks.

Online retailer Amazon recently reported stellar earnings with sales increasing 23% to $35.7 billion, well above Wall Street expectations. Analysts largely saw this as more trouble for retailers who continue to lose share to Amazon. Luxury retailer Coach reported earnings Tuesday, beating Wall Street estimates and then citing the higher profits because of its strategy to pull out of more than 250 department stores amid lower foot traffic in malls and realign its resources with e-commerce.