Searches Celebrating Mom Show Trend Toward Experiences

Experiences have become more important that physical items when it comes to gift giving for Mother's Day. In fact, there is a trend away from traditional gifts, and toward more unique and special options for Mother's Day, according to data released Monday.

Google data shows that experiences are trending over flowers when it comes to Mother's Day gifts. More mothers want time with family and friends, compared with tangible items. Millennial moms say they look forward to Mother’s Day as a chance to rest, while older moms favor family and food. It makes "spa" the No. 1 search term on Google around Mother's Day.

After Valentine’s Day, the most searches related to reservations happen most often on Mother’s Day. Since experience takes prescience, during the past four years searches for flowers around Mother’s Day fell 19%, since 2011, while edible arrangements and fruit baskets grew in popularity by 20% in May 2014. 

The holiday represents a huge opportunity for companies like Edible Arrangements. Kaitlin Reiss, VP of marketing and ecommerce for Edible Arrangements, sees a trend in consumers spending more on celebrations, such as preparing a brunch for their mother or taking her out for a meal. They order the arrangements to provide a table centerpiece.

"With most of our traffic coming from search engines like Google, it’s critical we have a consistent presence throughout the holiday," Reiss admits. "In addition to traditional search ads, Product Listing Ads (PLAs) are an important part of our strategy because of the visual appeal of our arrangements."

With most of Edible's Mother's Day traffic coming from search engines like Google, its critical the company has a consistent presence throughout the holiday. During Mothers Day, for example, Edible starts engaging with consumers early because it finds shoppers start to research gifts about a month out. It's important to maintain a presence on Google through the holiday in order to cater to those looking for last minute gifts. The company has more than 1,100 locations that will remain open and delivering goods on Mothers Day weekend. 

Those slacking off in finding a gift are not alone. Mother’s Day ranked third, behind Christmas and Valentine’s Day, for "last minute" searches related to gifts, though people actually started looking for gift ideas earlier. Having local listings on Google Maps also helps those last minute shoppers to easily find one of these locations on their way to see Mom. 

Overall, searches in May 2014, for the best Mother's Day gift rose nearly 40% from the previous year.  Another trend Reiss sees unrelated to Mothers Day, a "dramatic increase" in mobile traffic. 
 
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