Mum’s the word: Aussies tipped to spend $1.3 billion on Mother’s Day

Taking mum out for breakfast or dinner will be the most popular choices to pamper mums this weekend, with Australian consumers forecast to spend almost $1.3 million on products and services for Mother’s day.

Research from IBISWorld shows Australians will spend an average of $53 per person on a range of different gifts for their mothers, including makeup, chocolates and massages.

Spending across the most popular categories, such as eating out, clothing and accessories retailing and cosmetics, is tipped to reach $1.286 billion, which is 1.6% higher than last year when cash registers rang to the tune of $1.266 billion.

Australians are tipped to spend $327.5 million in restaurants and cafes on Sunday, a 2.1% jump on last year.

One of the fastest growing gift categories for mum is consumables, with $138 million expected to get spent on items such as chocolate.

Pana Barbounis, founder of raw organic chocolate brand Pana Chocolate, told SmartCompany aside from Easter and Christmas, Mother’s Day is one of the chocolatier’s busiest periods, with sales steadily increasing in the last few weeks.

“Chocolate has always been seen as an indulgence, a special treat, so it’s the perfect gift to pamper mum,” says Barbounis.

Pana is capitalising on the increased interest by releasing an ‘I Love You Mum’ gift pack and a special Mother’s Day edition of its rose chocolate bar.

“This Mother’s Day, our Sydney shop will be open for the first time and already there have been questions about opening times and bookings for Sunday, so we expect many lucky mums will be treated to our desserts and specialty chocolates in our Sydney and Melbourne shops,” says Barbounis.

He says Pana’s raw, handmade and organic chocolate is an even bigger drawcard at this time of year for consumers with health-conscious mothers.

“It’s a guilty pleasure that’s not so guilty after all, and all mums have to love that,” he says.

And while the research suggests spending on cosmetics will slightly dip this year by 1.3% from $138.2 million to $136.4 million, Adore Beauty founder Kate Morris says her business has been experiencing a jump in sales for the last few months.

“May is really off to a booming start,” Morris told SmartCompany.

“We’ve ramped up our marketing in the last couple of months and we’re tracking very well. But also we’re seeing a lot of people who were shopping overseas coming back to shop locally. It’s definitely helped that the dollar has dropped too.”

At Adore Beauty, its Australian-made Glasshouse candles are flying out the door, alongside the SKII skincare range and GHD hair straighteners, which can cost up to $300 – a price point that doesn’t put off Aussies who want to show mum they love her.

“People love to spoil their mums, so they’re happy to splash out a bit,” adds Morris.