Whether your mother is a beauty lover, tech fanatic or foodie, finding the perfect gift on Mother’s Day can be a challenge. Is it the earrings she’s been eyeing recently, or tickets to see her favourite musician? With almost half (47 per cent) of Canadians agreeing that Mom would be upset if she didn’t receive a gift, according to a recent survey by savings destination RetailMeNot.ca, the stress can really build up. But does Mom even care about gifts? Turns out, she doesn’t. The vast majority of Canadian moms (85 per cent) say skip the presents – she really just wants to spend time with her kids on Mother’s Day.
Even though moms just want to spend time with their family, it turns out that more than half of Canadians (60 per cent) say moms tend to spend their own money while celebrating with their kids, which is surprising since 62 per cent of those surveyed say kids should cover the cost. But kids don’t have to break the bank to make Mom feel special – especially since almost all (97 per cent) of Canadian moms say that it’s the thought that counts more than what is spent on the special day.
“If you plan to buy Mom a gift this year, spending can be kept in check this Mother’s Day by visiting online savings sites like RetailMeNot.ca,where you can find great deals on everything from flowers to dinner out – exactly what you need to make Mom’s special day perfect,” says Sara Skirboll, Shopping & Trends Expert for RetailMeNot.ca.
What Mom Really Wants
Regardless of Mom’s focus on quality time with her family, Canadians are still planning to purchase gifts for Mother’s Day this year. In fact, they will spend an average of $87 on Mother’s Day presents and a total of $155 on the overall experience for their moms. The top purchases this Mother’s Day and average spend include:
Dinner – $72
Experience together – $70
Gift Card – $55
Flowers – $36
Chocolate or Candy – $20
A card – $12
In fact, shoppers can find the things Mom wants at some of her favorite retailers.
1-800-Flowers.ca: 20% off Mother’s Day arrangements or free shipping exclusive
Indigo: $14.50 Mother’s Day tote when you spend $40 or more
Blue Nile: 20% off selected items
Vistaprint: 25% off photo gifts
Amazon: Save on Mother’s Day gifts
Hudson’s Bay: Save on Mother’s Day gifts
Don’t Forget About Dad!
With Mother’s Day a month before Father’s Day, many dads feel that this special holiday can be forgotten for them. In fact, 87 per cent of Canadian dads agree that Mother’s Day usually outshines Father’s Day, and 78 per cent of Canadians agree that more people celebrate Mom than Dad.
The majority of dads (79 per cent) agree that fathers don’t expect a gift for Father’s Day, as much as mothers do for Mother’s Day, but 44 per cent of Canadians say Dad would be upset if he were forgotten. In addition, nearly one in three fathers (30 per cent) said their feelings would be hurt if their kids celebrated Mother’s Day more than Father’s Day. So this Father’s Day, be sure to spoil Dad rotten with his favourite things.
This Father’s Day, Canadians are planning on spending $93 on presents and a total of $119 on the overall experience for Dad this year – 37 per cent less than the average spend on Mom. The top items to be purchased for this Father’s Day and average spend include:
Tickets to an event or show – $98
Dinner – $79
Round of golf – $76
Clothing – $75
Experience with children – $62
Sporting goods – $66
Gift card – $52
A card – $9
Other Survey Findings
Creativity counts: 87 per cent of Canadians agree that a homemade gift means more to moms than something store bought;
Break from being a mom: 79 per cent of Canadians agree that Mom’s ideal way to celebrate Mother’s Day is a day off and a break from mommy duties;
Daughters vs. sons: 65 per cent of Canadians agree that daughters are more likely to make a big deal out of Mother’s Day than sons.
RetailMeNot.ca regularly conducts consumer trend and spending surveys.
About the survey:
From March 23rd to March 25th 2018 an online survey was conducted by Maru/Matchbox among 1,512 randomly selected Canadian adults. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to education, age, gender and region (and in Quebec, language) Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
About RetailMeNot, Inc.
RetailMeNot, Inc. (https://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) is a leading savings destination connecting consumers with retailers, restaurants and brands, both online and in-store. The company enables consumers across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of offers to save money while they shop or dine out. RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates that $4.8 billion in retailer sales were attributable to consumer transactions from paid digital offers in its marketplace in 2017, more than $560 million of which were attributable to its in-store solution. The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio of websites and mobile applications includes RetailMeNot.com in the United States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk in the United Kingdom; ma-reduc.com and Poulpeo.com in France; and GiftCardZen.com and Deals2Buy.com in North America. As wholly owned subsidiaries of Harland Clarke Holdings, RetailMeNot and Valassis, a leader in intelligent media delivery, are partnering to connect retailers and consumers through meaningful digital, mobile and print promotions both online and in store.
