Mother’s Day 2012 Trends

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner but the day to spoil the other important woman in your life is coming up fast and here in the Retail team we’ve been digging around to see how online shoppers behave around Mother’s Day. What did we find out?

Below are some of the top trends:

• Queries for Mother’s Day related terms increased by 60% in 2011 with searches starting to ramp up 4 weeks in advance
• There are TWO peaks for Mother’s Day queries in the UK; the first being in the run up to Mother’s Day in the UK and a second peak a month later for US Mother’s Day. There is a significant volume of searches in the UK for Mother’s Day gifts for the US holiday so be prepared for this.
• Mobile has become increasingly important with 22% of Mother’s Day queries carried out on a mobile device in 2011
• Chocolates and flowers just won’t do any more. Personalized gifts have become increasingly popular last year and it’s likely for that trend to continue. Gift certificates were down 1.7% year-on-year (YoY)
• Flowers still trend as the main category of gifts for mums but luxury hampers are a close second
• Mums are becoming more hi-tech with purchases of electronics items up 7.4% YoY.

So what can you do to make sure you make the most of Mother’s Day 2012?

• Check your coverage in generics as well as products. Most people are searching for gift ideas and research a lot before deciding on an item. By covering the generics, you are more likely to be front of mind as they progress down the purchase funnel
• Engage with Mobiles and Tablets. With over 1 in 5 Mother’s Day queries on a mobile device, ensure that you have dedicated mobile campaigns for Mother’s Day to be present when consumers are searching for you. Average order values on tablet are actually 20% higher than desktop.
• Searches for Mother’s Day tend to ramp up 4 weeks in advance. With Mother’s Day on 18th March this year, the earlier you can implement your campaigns, the more Quality Score you can build on those keywords so by the time searches begin to rise you are in a good position.
• Searches for Mother’s Day tend to ramp up 4 weeks in advance. With Mother’s Day on 18th March this year, the earlier you can implement your campaigns, the more Quality Score you can build on those keywords so by the time searches begin to rise you are in a good position.

Posted by Anuj Ghaghada, UK Retail Team