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Mothering Sunday worth £1.6 billion to UK retailers
Archived article dated Monday February 25th 2008
Mothering Sunday is expected to be worth £1.6 billion to UK retailers this year, an increase of six per cent on 2007
An estimated £85 million worth of greeting cards will be sold with flowers as the most popular gift at a total cost of £230 million.
British Retail Consortium Director General, Stephen Robertson, says “It feels like non-stop cards and flowers so far this year. Little more than a fortnight after Valentine's Day, millions of us will be with our mums on Sunday showing how much she's appreciated. With an early Easter too, three celebration days in quick succession presents a supply and restocking challenge for retailers as they try to keep up with whether customers want hearts, rabbits, roses, pot plants or chocolate eggs.”
Nielsen Mothering Sunday data for supermarkets and convenience stores shows that:
• More greetings cards are sold for Mothering Sunday than for Valentine's Day, with sales in the two weeks before Mothering Sunday double the normal weekly average.
• Even more cut flowers are sold for Mothering Sunday than for Valentine's Day, with eight per cent of annual sales in supermarkets and convenience stores being made in the two weeks leading up to Mothers' Day, more than twice as much as normal.
• Mixed bouquets will be the most popular choice of flowers in supermarkets and convenience stores, making up nearly half of all cut flower sales. Roses and tulips will be the next most popular, each accounting for 11 per cent of flower sales.
Mike Watkins, Senior Manager, Retailer Services, Nielsen, said “These figures seem to show more of us want to spend on our mothers than our lovers. Cut flowers will be the nattion's number one gift choice this Mothering Sunday, with mixed bouquets the most popular. With purse strings tight, competition will be even tougher this year. There will be some good deals for customers wanting to make their mothers feel special.”
Tagged as: mothers day
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