Inflation’s Uneven Impact on Mother’s Day Gifts

Which Mother’s Day gifts offer the most bang for the buck to shoppers? According to data insights culled from Catalina’s Shopper Intelligence Platform, the gift categories for the May 14 holiday least affected by inflation are sparkling wine and scented candles, whose prices increased 5 percent and 7 percent, respectively, during the first quarter of 2023 versus a year earlier.

“Inflation isn’t impacting the major Mother’s Day gift categories equally,” said Sean Murphy, Catalina’s Chief Data & Analytics Officer. “For example, the cost of premium box candy, cut flowers and fragrances are all trending higher than the Consumer Price Index’s 8 percent rate of inflation for grocery store purchases in March 2023.”

Specifically, premium boxes of candy cost 18 percent more than they did for the same period in 2022, rising to an average price of $4.18. At $19.55, grocery bouquets of cut flowers are the most expensive option, up 10 percent over 2022. Prices of fragrances have increased 11 percent and cost on average $17.23.

The dollars at stake in the coming days leading up to the holiday are huge for retailers. The National Retail Federation expects U.S. shoppers to spend a total of $35.7 billion on Mother’s Day this year. The holiday is the second most popular gift-giving day in the U.S., behind Christmas.

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