Mother’s Day spending to fall as recession bites

Home-made cards and breakfast in bed will replace jewellery and gift cards this Mother’s Day, leading to a 3.9% fall in spending.

IBISWorld general manager Robert Bryant is forecasting per capita average spending on Mother’s Day will be $57.96 this year, compared to $60.26 in 2008.

Sales of jewellery and gift certificates (such as department store, spa and beauty vouchers) are likely to fall 4.9% and 6.6% respectively as consumers look for cheaper gifts.

Greeting card sales will buck the generally dismal retail spending trend, with sales tipped to increase 1.2% this Mother’s Day to $49.1 million.

“However, despite this small rise, growth for the greeting card industry will be slower, with many Australians opting for home-made or e-cards instead this year,” Bryant says.

Chocolate sales are expected to remain reasonably robust, although spending is expected to fall 0.4% to $35.3 million, as consumers shift away from the most expensive brands.

But IBISWorld expects sales of cosmetics, perfumes and toiletries will fall by 4.5% to $94.5 million and clothing sales will drop 0.9% to $29 million.

Another hard hit sector will be the florist industry. Mother’s Day typically accounts for 24% of the sector’s annual revenue, but spending is tipped to fall 3.9% to $170.1 million.

Restaurant and café owners should also prepare for a worse Mother’s Day than last year. While dining out still accounts for the biggest proportion of Mother’s Day spending at around 20.1% of total expenditure, Bryant is tipping a decline of 4.9% to $253.3 million.

“It may be a common case of forgoing cordon bleu in favour of crumbed calamari,” he says.

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• Shoppers set to cut spending by 21%