Mother’s Day is an annual celebration of mothers everywhere, and children’s’ chance to show their gratitude and appreciation.
For ecommerce retailers, in the same way as other special occasions such as Christmas and Easter, the day represents an ideal opportunity to showcase some special new products and launch specific offers to appeal to children and mums. The trick is to stand out, produce some clever promotions, and use the opportunity of Mother’s Day to build more business and win new customers.
Marketing for special occasions is a great time to revisit the tried and trusted 4ps approach to marketing: product, price, place, and promotion of your goods.
Before we take a dive into Mother’s Day ecommerce facts, here are the four ways you can best position your ecommerce business to thriving during this and other popular online shopping holidays.
Plan Ahead
As online shopping becomes increasingly popular, people are buying further and further ahead for special occasions, and Mother’s Day is no different. Be sure to capitalize on this and get your promotions and offers launched at least six weeks ahead of time to give you the best opportunity to sell more and get ahead of your competition.
It is better to be too early than too late with your Mother’s Day marketing, so drive the bandwagon instead of just joining it!
Be Creative with Your Messaging
It is no secret that consumers are getting increasingly demanding. Tell the story around Mother’s Day and try to sell an experience, not just a product. Create the feeling of something special that will really make mothers feel special on their day.
You could consider offering the option of a personalized message card with every purchase in the build-up to Mother’s Day. Offer a choice of styles and colors to suit different tastes and make children and mothers really feel like it is not just an ordinary gift.
As well as being a nice touch that makes your offerings stand out, this also helps to create convenience for your customers because they can then have it delivered directly to the recipient without having to have it delivered to themself first.
Think About your Range
Mother’s Day gifts need to feel like something that is not just a standard gift for other times of the year. Offering personalized cards and messages with your order is a step in the right direction.
But also think carefully about the products you are offering for Mother’s Day. The trend at present for Mother’s Day seems to be towards more practical products that moms can use all year round instead of a temporary gift that may end up on a shelf.
To capitalize on this trend, try offering gardening accessories, books, homewares and furnishings, and electronic goods suited to mothers.
Promotion & Standing Out
The advantage of eCommerce selling is that you have the whole world at your fingertips, and you can configure your store using a mouse and a keyboard. The downside is that so can everyone else. This makes eCommerce an extremely competitive business.
In the build-up to special occasions such as Mother’s Day, online selling becomes even more competitive. Your challenge is to stand out and bring people to your store before your competitors.
One way of doing this is to focus on the right social media channels. Rather than blasting out the same message on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on, get inside the head of your target buyers.
Draw up a profile of your target personas. It is too simplistic to think “anyone with a mother” simply is your target for Mother’s Day. People have different age groups, budgets, and lifestyles. Once you have established where your business and your Mother’s Day offerings best fit, think about the best ways of getting your message out there.
The Power of Video
To help fuel your social media campaigns, think about getting some videos made to inspire people to visit your store and buy your products. Do not be put off by the perceived price and complexity of video – to be effective; it does not need to be the next Diet Coke advert.
Even with a limited budget, it is possible to create a nice animated video to showcase your products and how customers can personalize them for Mother’s Day. With sites such as peopleperhour.com, you can hire skilled freelancers to run with a simple brief and turn your products into short videos in no time at all.
The other advantage of making short animated videos is that they can be embedded in social media platforms to maximize visibility. Keep your videos to around 60 seconds to keep people’s attention and include a clear call to action at the end. Take people to a dedicated landing page to track your return on investment from the social media platforms, and give them the clear option to buy the product from the video when they arrive there.
Price
That leads us nicely onto the price. As always, price is a huge part of your Mother’s Day marketing approach. Offering a special Mother’s Day discount code is always an effective tool.
You can also use this approach to increase the value of a customer’s basket by offering a discount above a certain value – e.g., save 25% if you spend above $50.
Also, give as many options as possible for your customers to pay. Flexibility at the checkout is vital to winning more business regardless of the time of year, so pay attention to your payment provider. Choose a payments partner with no penalties or extra costs the more you sell and ensure your payment gateway can offer the functionality of discount codes.
2021 Mother’s Day Ecommerce Facts
Now what you really came here for: Mother’s Day ecommerce facts that you can use to improve your business.
- 86% of U.S. consumers plan to celebrate Mother’s Day
- Average spending on Mother’s Day is about $200
- 64% of consumers plan to buy flowers (many will order online)
- Online flower orders are up 5.4% year over year
- com is projecting more than $150 million in sales
- Experts project a total spend eclipsing $24 billion in the U.S.
- More than 60% of consumers will celebrate virtually
- 42% of consumers will shop online to find a unique gift
Need Even More Tips?
We’re here to help. Father’s Day is just around the corner, so why not get a head start on your marketing plan right now. Take a look at our related guide: Father’s Day Ecommerce Facts You Need to Know.