Mother's Day Ideas to Implement in Your Retail Business

Just as soon as retailers have got through their Easter sales drive, along comes Mother's Day! This year, when planning Mother’s Day campaigns—make sure to keep the customer journey and technology front-of-mind. As Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director of the ARA says,

“Technology is creating new ways for consumers to interact with each other and retailers are now redesigning their products to align with consumer behaviour and modernising the way they market to their consumers on these special occasions.”

To prepare for Mother’s Day, it helps to know who exactly your customers are shopping for. Are they buying for their mothers or spouses? Celebrating with friends, sisters or daughters? Once you have more insight into who your audience is and the people they are buying for, you can develop relevant campaigns and experiences. Here are a few ideas to implement into your retail business this year, both in-store and online.

‍Overall Strategy

1. Start early—start sending reminders and specific Mother’s Day offers and to your customers well in advance to help ensure you are top of mind when it comes time to buying a Mother’s Day gift. Create a Gift Guide (a list of gift ideas) that highlights your most popular products.
2. Offer Mother’s Day specific products—consider selling exclusive, bespoke products that are only available for Mother's Day.
3. Offer convenience through bundles— many shoppers need help finding the perfect Mother’s Day gift, make it easy for them by offering readily-available bundles for a beautiful and easy shopping experience.

In-Store

1. Partner up with local flower shops, spas, jewellery stores or restaurants—increase traffic to your location by collaborating with local, non-competing retailers. Giveaway coupons or offer special deals to encourage more spending, increase exposure and find potential customers. Send complimentary gift cards to these retailers that they can offer to their customers, encouraging spend and traffic to your store.
2. A great customer experience—Ensure staff are able to provide expert advice about products and have the ability to cross-sell and upsell at point of sale, for example adding a card or accessories to go with the Mother’s Day gift.
3. Added-value services—include complimentary or added-value services such as gift wrapping or customised cards at point of sale.
4. Make it easy for last minute purchases—make it easier for Mother’s Day shoppers to find what they’re looking for. Add in a Mother’s Day section in-store, dedicated to products around Mother’s Day all in one place. Even consider offering readily-available bundles.
5. Make it visual–add a window display at your shop front to make it clear you’re selling Mother’s Day items. Some elements to consider when dressing up your window display for Mother’s Day include using feminine colours such as pink, lilac and red, displaying graphics that depict mothers and children and simple quotes that spark emotion, affection and memories.

Online

1. Encourage your customers to share stories about their Mums–Mother’s Day isn’t just about giving gifts. Stories and photos that people share about their Mums also plays a huge role during the day. Encouraging your consumers to share images and stories about their mums could give them a chance to win a gift, driving engagement and brand awareness.
2. Clearly show order deadlines - include a calendar that shows your customers when they need to place their orders online to ensure their purchase arrives on time.
3. Have a special Mother’s Day section on your site—make it easier for Mother’s Day shoppers to find what they’re looking for by adding in a Mother’s Day section front and centre to your homepage. Create special deals around these gifts so they are visible as soon as a customer lands on your page.
4. Online Advertising—if you’re running online ads, lead people to specific landing pages for Mother’s Day gifts on your website to reduce the number of clicks and allow people to easily land exactly where they need to. Run specific Mother’s Day social and email campaigns that lead customers directly to your products.

Sources:

1. https://www.insideretail.com.au/news/aussies-tipped-to-spend-733m-on-mothers-day-201805
2. https://www.retail.org.au/
3. https://rype.com.au/

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