2026 Mother’s Day shopping plans
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Mother's Day Insights
Visit NRF’s Mother’s Day headquarters and discover how consumers are celebrating the mother figures in their lives this year.
With Mother’s Day right around the corner, consumers seem to be maintaining their “gripe but swipe” mentality on spending, as explained by NRF Chief Economist Mark Mathews. More consumers are planning to buy across almost every gift category, pushing expected spending to new records. This year, Mother’s Day shoppers are budgeting an average of $284.25 per person, for a total expected spending of $38 billion. That begs the question: Who’s spending?
The short answer is that more consumers of all different types plan to shop more — and thus spend more — this year. For the long answer, here’s a breakdown of each demographics’ Mother’s Day plans.
Spending styles
While both men and women are planning to buy and spend more, men continue to be most likely to splurge. This year, men are budgeting an average $346 per person, compared to women’s $225. When it comes to who they are buying gifts for, though, women are more likely to grab a special something for all the moms in their lives, including stepmoms, daughters or sisters.
Magnanimous millennials
All age groups are budgeting the same or more on the holiday this year. Millennials plan to spend the most, maintaining their place as the generation with the largest budgets for moms. These shoppers are also among those most likely to gift experiences, with millennials along with Gen Z leading the way with gifts like concerts, sporting events and more.
Not only are these shoppers gifting more experiences than any other age group, but they’re also more likely to gift an experience than men, women or any income segment.
There’s no “K” in “Mother’s Day”
The K-shaped economy is on everyone’s mind, but consumers across income groups are upping the ante on celebrating mom. Unsurprisingly, higher-income consumers saw the greatest increases, but lower- and middle-income consumers also plan to purchase and spend more on the holiday. This isn’t to say they aren’t spending intentionally — more consumers plan to purchase gifts at discount stores, maximizing their dollars.
For more on how consumers are celebrating the mother figures in their lives this year, or for gift ideas for your own, check out NRF’s Mother’s Day headquarters.