The National Retail Federation is forecasting a robust Mother’s Day holiday this year, with near-record spending of $23.1 billion. About 86 percent of Americans are expected to celebrate Mother’s Day, spending an average of $180 per person, according to the annual survey released last week by NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
The survey found consumers plan to spend $2.6 billion on flowers — a figure that’s on par with the group’s 2017 spending predictions.
“This year’s Mother’s Day forecast is one of the strongest we’ve ever seen,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “With spring in full bloom, Americans are looking forward to splurging on their mothers and retailers are prepared to offer a variety of options that will allow consumers to find the perfect gift for the occasion.”
The expected spending would be second only to last year’s $23.6 billion, the highest in the 15-year history of the survey.
Members of the Society of American Florists volunteer leader councils say they’re prepping for a strong holiday.
“We are experiencing strong demand for the holiday up to this point,” said Tim Dewey of DVFlora and a member of SAF’s Wholesalers Council. “Our customers are expecting holiday demand to be good after the extended winter we experienced in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.”
Dewey said while some weather conditions in recent months in Colombia and Ecuador “have not been ideal,” he’s optimistic about the rush before the holiday. “We have pretty good insight and control over prevailing conditions in the process of shipping product from the farms to our customers.”
SAF Board Director Mike Mooney of Dramm & Echter in Encinitas, California, weighed in with insights from Southern California, saying that “great weather in California and Baja Mexico should help keep volume high in San Diego. large demand at the mass-market level also will keep prices firm.” Mooney also noted an early bloom for waxflower this year, which could cause a tighter supply next week on those accent flowers.
Retailers Council Member Michael Pugh, AAF, of Pugh’s Flowers in Memphis said he’s planning for sales on par or higher than last year’s returns. “We will this year be using pay-per-click advertising during the Mother’s Day holiday, decreasing our vulnerability to large order-gathering sites,” he said. “Weather always plays a factor. We have had an unusually wet spring, so hopefully Friday and Saturday will be sunny and clear.”
EBrief editors also reached out to Jana Register, director of sales and marketing, at FernTrust, a farming cooperative in Seville, Florida, that suffered damage to its fields and production levels during both Hurricane Matthew and Irma.
“I am happy to report that our supply issues have been minor this holiday,” Register said. “We are seeing good supplies and great quality on most all of our Florida greens including leatherleaf and variegated and green pittosporum. The few hold outs that are impossible to source right now are nagi, smilax and larger monstera. There is a tight supply on calatheas, weeping podocarpus and variegated Ligustrum.”
Read more about the NRF survey results.
Read why one floral industry research group thinks florists should be marketing Mother’s Day to big spenders.
