United Kingdom (UK) Mother’s Day Market Analysis, Trends, Consumer Attitudes, Buying Dynamics and Key Players, 2023 Update

UK Mother’s Day Retail Market Report Overview

Retail penetration for Mother’s Day rose in 2023. However, it was much below the pre-pandemic levels affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Despite over 60% of consumers in the UK feeling financially worse off in 2023, the spend on Mother’s Day celebration has not been compromised. Consumers have viewed spending on this occasion as an essential, rather than a potential area to cut back on.

As spending on gifts rose this Mother’s Day, driven by inflation in the market, consumers have allocated more of their budget to ensure that they bought a substantial gift, purchasing cheaper items but buying more of them for the recipient.  Mother’s Day gifting penetration, as consumers allocate more of their income to gifts for this occasion. Despite taking a hit during the pandemic, experience gifts have now exceeded pre-pandemic popularity. Therefore, retailers must ensure they promote options such as vouchers and package deals for experiences like Afternoon Tea by putting these gift options at the front of the store to retain consumers.

The UK Mother’s Day retail market research report offers a comprehensive insight into the consumer dynamics and spending habits of UK consumers for Mother’s Day. The report analyses the major players, the main trends, and consumer attitudes.

UK Mother’s Day Trends Insights

Companies are innovating their in-store marketing strategies. For instance, Sainsbury’s Mother’s Day display featured various homeware items, such as candles and mugs, as well as food & drink gifts such as confectionary and alcohol. The grocer also had cookbooks and decorations on sale to appeal to shoppers hosting at home, offering consumers a cheaper alternative to dining out.

Even online sales for Mother’s Day celebrations in the UK have witnessed a surge with major players strengthening their online marketing initiatives. For instance, Marks & Spencer’s online Mother’s Day lineup featured a ‘Top 10’ gift ideas page, with suggestions ranging from cashmere jumpers to flower planters. The retailer also offered a letterbox gift, delivering afternoon tea straight to the recipient’s door, as an alternative to a flower delivery for those who could not be with their mother on the day. Marks & Spencer also had a highly successful sell-out ‘Mums The Word’ luxury beauty gift box, which offered a value beauty gift for consumers, retailing for £25 with a product value of £110.

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UK Mother’s Day Retail Market Segments

The key segments in the UK Mother’s Day retail market are food & drink, gifts, and cards & gift wraps. In 2023, the gifts segment accounted for the largest UK Mother’s Day retail market share.

Gifts: The gifts segment spending is further categorized into fine jewellery & watches, electricals, clothing, experience, accessories & footwear, vouchers & money, sports, health & beauty, homewares, books, and soft toys among others. The fine jewellery & watches sub-segment accounted for the highest UK Mother’s Day market share in 2023. Consumers used home delivery as the highest preferred order fulfillment method. Tesco emerged as the most preferred retailer for purchase among consumers followed by ASDA and Sainsbury’s. Supermarkets were the most popular choice among gifting enthusiasts in UK Mother’s Day market during 2023.

Cards & Gift Wraps: This segment held the second largest share in the UK Mother’s Day market in 2023. E-cards and cards bought online, gift wrapping accessories, decorations for the home, gift bags, gift wrap, cards bought from a shop, and sticky tapes are some of the sub-segments of the cards & gift wraps segment. Card Factory emerged as the leading retailer for the cards & gift wraps segment followed by Tesco, ASDA, and Sainsbury’s. Supermarkets, convenience stores, and department stores were the top 3 store types for consumers. Most consumers made the purchases using mobile devices followed by laptops and tablets. Consumers opted for home delivery as the most preferred fulfillment option in 2023.

Food & Drink: The category is further divided into cakes, chocolates, & biscuits, fresh meat, fruit & vegetables, fish, ready meals, alcoholic drinks, and non-alcoholic drinks among others. Marks & Spencer emerged as the most preferred retailer followed by Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Most of consumers preferred supermarkets, convenience store retailers, and value & discount retailers as the top 3 store types.

UK Mother’s Day Retail Market Analysis by Segments, 2023 (%)

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Segments Covered in the Report

UK Mother’s Day Retail Market Segments Outlook (2023, %)

• Food & Drink
• Gifts
• Cards & Gift Wraps

Key Highlights

• Mother’s Day provided a boost to retail, but it is yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels
• Despite consumers stating that they felt financially worse off this year, consumers have prioritized treating their mothers and other loved ones.
• The importance of price and value for money when selecting food & drink items has risen this Mother’s Day, whereas the importance of quality to consumers decreased.
• Consumer spending on experience gifts exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

Reasons to Buy

• Identify the key retailers used by consumers to purchase Mother’s Day products across various categories, and what drives consumers to shop with these retailers
• Understand the most popular Mother’s Day categories shopped for by consumers in 2023
• Understand which channels used by consumers are the most popular when shopping for Mother’s Day products