Executive Summary
Mother’s Day continues to stand out as one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the U.S., with strong participation and growing economic impact. While overall celebration rates have remained relatively steady, spending patterns and consumer behavior are shifting in notable ways, revealing a move toward more meaningful, experience-driven gifting and a broader definition of who is being celebrated.
- Experiences are redefining the holiday: One of the most striking shifts is the surge in experience-based gifting: “special outings” jumped to 33.0% participation in 2026, up from just 3.0% in 2025—a dramatic increase that signals a clear move away from traditional gifts toward shared experiences and memory-making.
- High participation, but not universal: 83.5% of consumers celebrate Mother’s Day, making it the third most popular U.S. holiday, yet 16.5% do not celebrate.
- Spending is rising: Average spend reached $284.25 per person, contributing to a total economic impact of $38.0 billion, an increase of $3.9 billion year over year.
- Celebration is multi-recipient: Celebrators average 1.1 recipients, with a meaningful share celebrating two or more people, reflecting the expanding definition of “mother figures.”
How Experience-Driven Gifting is Shaping Mother’s Day Retail
By Dr. Martin Block, Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University, Retail Analytics Council
Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 10, 2026) is the third most popular American holiday. Celebrating Mother’s Day is among the topics covered by Prosper Insights & Analytics in the monthly online surveys that collect data about annual events and related market behavior sponsored by the National Retail Federation. Celebrating Mother’s Day was asked in the April 2026 survey (n=7,877). In response to the question, “Do you expect to spend more, the same, or less for Mother’s Day than you spent last year?” Of the total, 16.5% said they don’t celebrate Mother’s Day, leaving 83.5% that do. As shown in Table 1, Mother’s Day ranks between the 4th of July and Superbowl and Easter.
Table 1: Seasonal Holiday Participation
| Percent | |
| 4th of July | 87.2 |
| Christmas | 85.3 |
| Mother’s Day | 83.5 |
| Superbowl | 79.9 |
| Celebrate Easter | 76.5 |
| Father’s Day | 75.3 |
| Halloween | 72.4 |
| St. Patrick’s Day | 60.4 |
| Valentines Day | 54.6 |
Recent Mother’s Day Celebration History
The Mother’s Day celebration rate has decreased slightly over the past ten years, as shown in Figure 1. The rate dropped sharply in 2021, no doubt related to COVID-19, and had a slight decrease of -0.20 per year over the ten years.
Figure 1: Celebrate Mother’s Day Trends
Celebrating Mother’s Day is more complicated because it can involve different people and often more than one being celebrated as a mother. Among the 83.5% that say they celebrate Mother’s Day, they claim 1.1 recipients. This includes 52.4% who cite only one recipient, 14.8% that say two, and 7.9% who cite three or more. The number reporting three or more is about the same as in 2025. Among those who celebrate, the overall average spending of $284.25 is reported. This represents an almost 10.0% increase over 2025 and represents 38.0 billion dollars. Table 2 shows that by far the most common recipient is a mother or stepmother, at 54.1%. This is followed by a wife at 21.9%. Celebrating other people, such as a daughter, sister or grandmother, implies more recipients. A grandmother, for instance, is celebrated by 8.3% but is one of 2.6 others.
Table 2: Mother’s Day People Celebrated
| Percent | Number of Recipients | |
| Mother or Stepmother | 54.1 | 1.6 |
| Wife | 21.9 | 1.9 |
| Daughter | 13.1 | 2.2 |
| Sister | 10.5 | 2.7 |
| Friend | 9.4 | 2.5 |
| Other relative | 7.3 | 2.1 |
| Grandmother | 8.3 | 2.6 |
| Godmother | 2.5 | 3.4 |
Flowers and greeting cards are the most common items purchased, as shown in Table 3. The categories are ranked by how often they are purchased. Special outings beyond dinner or brunch can include tickets to a concert or sporting event, hot air balloon ride, gym membership, spa service, art or learning classes and are given by 33.0%, up from 3.0% in 2025. All categories have increased over the last year, with flowers showing the smallest increase. The sharpest year-over-year percentage increases are in physical items such as houseware and gardening tools, books or CDs and consumer electronics or computer-related accessories.
Table 3: Planned Mother’s Day Buying
| Percent Buying | 2025 | 2026 | Year over year |
| Flowers | 73.8 | 74.7 | 0.9 |
| Greeting card(s) | 72.6 | 73.8 | 1.2 |
| Special outings, such as dinner or brunch | 60.6 | 63.3 | 2.8 |
| Gift Card(s)/Certificate(s) | 53.0 | 54.7 | 1.7 |
| Clothing or clothing accessories | 47.7 | 50.8 | 3.1 |
| Jewelry | 41.9 | 45.3 | 3.4 |
| Personal Service, such as a day at a spa, or a massage | 33.5 | 37.7 | 4.2 |
| Houseware or gardening tools | 28.7 | 33.7 | 5.1 |
| Books or CDs | 25.6 | 31.1 | 5.5 |
| Consumer electronics or computer-related accessories | 22.1 | 28.7 | 6.6 |
| Other | 28.2 | 32.3 | 4.2 |
As shown in Table 4, the planned spending is lower in every physical gift category than last year, except gift cards and special outings. The drop from last year is no doubt due to the current economy. Jewelry is the highest-spending item, with a 7.0% decline. The biggest decline is in consumer electronics.
Table 4: Planned Mother’s Day Spend Amounts
| Buyer Spend | 2025 | 2026 | Year over year |
| Jewelry | 122.68 | 124.25 | 1.57 |
| Consumer electronics or computer-related accessories | 110.48 | 113.80 | 3.32 |
| Special outings, such as dinner or brunch | 79.48 | 75.97 | -3.51 |
| Personal Service, such as a day at a spa, a facial or a massage | 70.12 | 69.86 | -0.26 |
| Clothing or clothing accessories | 50.29 | 49.25 | -1.04 |
| Houseware or gardening tools | 48.51 | 51.40 | 2.89 |
| Gift Card(s)/Certificate(s) | 50.54 | 49.12 | -1.42 |
| Flowers | 32.56 | 31.65 | -0.91 |
| Books or CDs | 23.95 | 26.27 | 2.31 |
| Greeting card(s) | 11.01 | 12.92 | 1.91 |
| Other | 31.05 | 31.95 | 0.90 |
| Total Spend | 259.04 | 288.25 | 25.21 |
The overall impact on the economy, multiplying the spending, participation and population size provides an estimate of the total economic impact as shown in Table 5. Mother’s Day contributes $38.0 billion to the U.S. economy, which is up 3.9 billion from last year. Flowers, by themselves, contributed $3.2 billion, and greeting cards $1.3 billion.
Table 5: Estimated Economic Impact
| Billions | 2025 | 2026 | Year over year |
| Jewelry | 6.8 | 7.5 | 0.8 |
| Special outings, such as dinner or brunch | 6.3 | 6.4 | 0.1 |
| Consumer electronics or computer-related accessories | 3.2 | 4.4 | 1.2 |
| Gift Card(s)/Certificate(s) | 3.5 | 3.6 | 0.1 |
| Flowers | 3.2 | 3.2 | 0.0 |
| Clothing or clothing accessories | 3.2 | 3.3 | 0.2 |
| Personal Service, such as a day at a spa, a facial or a massage | 3.1 | 3.5 | 0.4 |
| Houseware or gardening tools | 1.8 | 2.3 | 0.5 |
| Greeting card(s) | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| Books or CDs | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| Total | 34.1 | 38.0 | 3.9 |
Where celebrators are spending their money is also changing. Table 6 shows that online is the leading source for gift purchases with nearly 33%, but decreasing since last year. Online and especially local small businesses have been increasing over the last year. Discount stores, specialty clothing stores and department stores have all increased.
Table 6: Retail Outlets
| 2025 | 2026 | Year over year | |
| Online | 35.9 | 32.9 | -3.1 |
| Department Store | 31.6 | 32.6 | 2.0 |
| Specialty Store (Greeting Card, Florist, Jeweler, Electronics) | 28.6 | 28.8 | 0.2 |
| Local/Small Business | 24.8 | 23.0 | -1.8 |
| Discount Store | 22.3 | 25.8 | 3.5 |
| Specialty Clothing Store | 12.1 | 15.0 | 2.9 |
| Catalog | 2.0 | 2.7 | 0.8 |
The majority, over two-thirds, say they look to the retailer for gift inspiration as shown in Table 7. This represents a substantial opportunity for the retailer, with 36.5% reporting always or very often.
Table 7: Look to Retailers for Gift Inspiration
| Percent | |
| Always | 14.7 |
| Very often | 21.8 |
| Sometimes | 32.9 |
| Not very often | 14.0 |
| Never | 16.6 |
The factors important to celebrators in purchasing Mother’s Day gifts are shown in Table 8. The leading reason, at 46%, is finding a gift that is unique or different. This followed finding a gift that creates a special memory at 39%. Convenience and being cost-effective are much lower on the list.
Table 8: Importance in Gift Purchasing
| Percent | |
| Finding a gift that’s convenient for me | 26.6 |
| Finding a gift that’s unique or different | 46.3 |
| Finding a gift that’s cheaper or most cost-effective | 21.3 |
| Finding a gift that creates a special memory | 39.1 |
Mother’s Day Celebrators
Describing who the Mother’s Day celebrators are is shown in Table 9. The comparison is based on celebration plans. Most of the sample (83.5%) plan to celebrate Mother’s Day, leaving 16.5% who don’t celebrate as reported earlier. To facilitate comparison, an index is computed comparing the percentage among those who celebrate to the total. As shown in Table 9, celebrators are more likely to be female, married and have children. Having children seems to be the most important predictor. Those who don’t celebrate are most likely to be divorced, separated or widowed. Celebrators also have higher income.
African American, Asian, and Hispanic groups are more likely to celebrate Mother’s Day, as shown in Table 9. This is especially true among Hispanics, noting the very low index among those who don’t celebrate. Age is also an important characteristic, with celebrators highest among Gen-Z and Millennials. The average age among non-celebrators is nearly 59, compared to the total population of adults at 48. Non-celebrators are also slightly more likely to live in rural areas.
Table 9: Celebrator Characteristics
| Don’t | Celebrate | Total | Index | ||
| Female | 51.3 | 50.2 | 52.0 | 103.8 | |
| Married | 26.5 | 38.0 | 36.2 | 105.0 | |
| Living with an unmarried partner | 7.1 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 102.4 | |
| Divorced or separated | 17.0 | 10.2 | 11.3 | 90.3 | |
| Widowed | 11.1 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 81.8 | |
| Single, never married | 34.3 | 33.6 | 33.7 | 99.7 | |
| Children | 13.1 | 39.8 | 35.6 | 111.8 | |
| Gen-Z | 10.3 | 24.7 | 22.4 | 110.3 | |
| Millennials | 12.3 | 27.6 | 25.2 | 109.5 | |
| Gen-X | 26.9 | 26.8 | 26.8 | 100.0 | |
| Boomers | 46.1 | 19.5 | 23.7 | 82.3 | |
| Seniors | 4.4 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 73.7 | |
| Age | 58.8 | 46.2 | 48.2 | 95.9 | |
| Income ($000) | 53.3 | 64.8 | 63.0 | 102.9 | |
| African American | 10.9 | 17.9 | 16.8 | 106.5 | |
| Asian | 3.1 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 106.5 | |
| Multi-Racial | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 89.5 | |
| White | 68.7 | 52.6 | 55.2 | 95.3 | |
| Hispanic | 10.1 | 17.5 | 16.4 | 106.7 | |
| Rural | 27.7 | 22.8 | 23.6 | 96.6 | |
| Urban | 38.3 | 41.5 | 41.0 | 101.2 | |
| Suburban | 33.2 | 34.7 | 34.5 | 100.6 | |
Happiness
Respondents are asked to rate their overall happiness across ten categories on a five-point scale. Table 10 shows the proportion of the combination of happy and totally happy. The unmistakable conclusion is that those who plan to celebrate Mother’s Day are happier than those who do not, as shown in the composite average. The biggest differences are in government, work life, love life, religion and family.
Table 10: Happiness by Mother’s Day Celebration
| Don’t | Celebrate | Total | Index | |
| Composite | 46.0 | 53.6 | 52.4 | 102.3 |
| Government | 15.0 | 27.3 | 25.4 | 107.7 |
| Work | 31.7 | 44.4 | 42.4 | 104.8 |
| Love | 38.7 | 52.7 | 50.5 | 104.4 |
| Religion | 48.4 | 56.9 | 55.6 | 102.4 |
| Family | 54.7 | 63.1 | 61.8 | 102.2 |
| Health | 48.3 | 54.9 | 53.8 | 101.9 |
| Home | 57.0 | 62.2 | 61.4 | 101.3 |
| Friends | 55.5 | 59.4 | 58.8 | 101.1 |
| Neighborhood | 54.1 | 56.7 | 56.3 | 100.7 |
| House | 56.6 | 58.6 | 58.3 | 100.5 |
Summary
Mother’s Day ranks between the 4th of July and Easter. Celebrating the day has remained almost flat in the last ten years. Spending, however, is up, especially compared to last year. The presence of children, age, marital status and income are the strongest predictors of planning to celebrate. Celebrators are still more online, but have increased in discount and department stores. Mother’s Day celebrators are also happier than those who don’t plan to celebrate.