Mother’s Day is one of the most lucrative calendar events in retailing. However, recent research suggests that despite increased interest from shoppers in spending their money on the occasion, the retail experience often fails to meet their expectations. According to a new survey by Savvy Marketing, 18 per cent of shoppers say they would like to see retailers invest more in the event.
The survey - of 1,000 household shopping decision-makers -indicated an increased level of shopper involvement this year, presenting retailers with a great opportunity to inspire shoppers and increase sales.
As seen across other calendar events, the value retailers are driving much of the market growth, says Savvy. The likes of Aldi and discount stores continue to ramp up their offers, helping drive opportunistic sales.
This presents a growing challenge to the supermarket grocers and many other retailers, that still account for the majority of Mother’s Day sales but face growing competition.
What were shoppers planning to buy this year? Traditional gifts of cards, flowers and chocolates win out with less non-purchase gifting taking place.
Topping the shopping list this year were shop-bought cards with 57 per cent saying they planned to buy these (up 24 per cent on the 2015 figures).
Gifts of flowers were planned by 31 per cent of shoppers taking part in the research (up just one per cent on last year) while chocolates took place third with 21 per cent giving the gift.
The data highlighted how 28 per cent of shoppers said they tend to trade up to buy more expensive food and drinks on the day – up four per cent on 2015 figures.
Speaking on the results, Alastair Lockhart, insight director at Savvy Marketing, commented, “The retail experience often fails to meet [shopper] expectations."
"It is our view that greater investment and, more importantly, innovation and creativity will be required over the next few years to really take advantage of trade up opportunities and unlock the full potential of the event," said a spokesperson for the company.
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