Mother's Day Will be the Second Most Important Gift Holiday this Year after Christmas

The message is the same for devoted offspring and smart marketers alike:  On May 9 this year, don’t forget about Mom!

Mother's Day is the second most important gifting holiday, on which over half of all gifters purchase a gift.  That puts Mother's Day right behind Christmas in gifting popularity, according to a new research study from Unity Marketing's The Gifting Report 2010: The Ultimate Guide to the Consumer Gift-Giving Market.  This report presents an in-depth view of consumers' gift buying and giving behavior for holidays and gift occasions like birthdays and anniversaries throughout the year based upon a survey of 1,680 adult gift buyers.

'Due to the easing of the recession, gift-givers this year are likely to spend slightly more than $100 buying Mother's Day gifts, which would be an increase of about 10 percent over what they spent last year,' says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author or the study.  'When it comes to their Mother's Day gift choices, shoppers will look first to the category of giftables, with candles, flowers and picture frames being the top three giftable choices.  After giftables, the next most popular gift categories will be gift cards, followed by consumable gifts, notably chocolates as the most popular gift item in that category.'

'This year shoppers are likely to turn to the same destinations they did last year for Mother's Day gifts.  Discount department stores, such as Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart, will attract the highest share of shoppers, but the second most popular place to shop isn't a 'place' at all but internet websites. Amazon.com, eBay, Overstock.com, BathandBodyWorks.com and HarryandDavid.com will be among the most popular e-shopping destinations this Mother's Day,' Danziger reports.

'For marketers and retailers, this mid-year gifting holiday is an important one.  As past behavior predicts the future, understanding the gifting preferences of these gifters honoring Mom will let marketers be sure the right products are in the stores,' Danziger concludes.

Unity Marketing has published a list of the top gift items purchased in 2009.  You can download a copy here: http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/cms_gifting/gifting/Gifitng_2010/Gifitng_Registration_Form.php