Mother’s Day spend in the UK in 2020 will be significantly down on last year as consumers avoid physical stores in fear of coronavirus (COVID-19), and the spend via the online channel will be unable to compensate for the lack of physical purchases, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Retailers with a weak online presence and heavy reliance on store sales will be the worst hit as the disruption to daily life increases, as well as restaurants and cafes whose Mother’s Day bookings will be cancelled as social distancing is implemented.

In 2019, 73.0% of UK consumers purchased a Mother’s Day gift, so many consumers will still want to buy a gift this year. However, given the advice to stay at home and the increasing number of physical stores temporarily shutting, consumers will have to rethink what and how they are buying.

Last year, 49.0% of consumers purchased a gift from the high street, and almost a quarter of consumers bought online. Although GlobalData expects online Mother’s Day spend to increase in 2020, with Amazon and other online retailers poaching purchases from physical stores, a hike in online sales will not be enough to cover the deficiency in revenue for occasion retailers such as Card Factory and Clintons, which have a weak online presence.

Georgina Sreeves, Retail Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The UK has been thrust into survival mode, which will lead to low consumer confidence and a cut back of non-essential spending as consumers’ livelihoods have been overturned indefinitely. This, combined with advised familial separation, will reduce spend on gifts and speciality food and drink purchases. Online greetings card retailers with a strong online proposition such as Moonpig and Funky Pigeon are likely to benefit as consumers choose to shop remotely than visit a store.”

This data is based off a 2,000 nationally representative Mother’s Day survey, asked in the weeks following Mother’s Day 2019