• by Laurie Sullivan , April 28, 2020

Families and friends are making alternative plans for Mother’s Day, as they look for ways to celebrate mom -- virtually. 

In the United Kingdom, Mother’s Day fell on March 22. There was a 269% increase in searches for ways to celebrate Mother’s Day virtually during the two weeks prior, beginning March 8, according to Captify, a search intelligence company.

Captify, which takes a close look at consumers searching on ecommerce, retail, travel and other websites, analyzed searches across the United States between April 9 and 23 and found a similar pattern. Searches rose 339% YoY between April 9 and April 23, as consumers sought alternatives to in-person gatherings.

Brands can glean insights into behavior across markets from the data to determine how consumers will approach celebrating Mother’s Day during quarantine, according to Anand Siddiqui, VP of global insights and analytics at Captify.

Interest in home experiences continues to rise. Nearly two months into this quarantine, consumers are tuning into homebound experiences like beauty and skin care, and home décor. In the U.S., consumer searches for beauty products rose 295%, and there was a 65% rise in searches for home décor.

“Time spent at home could lend itself to consumers accomplishing more home projects,” Siddiqui said.

Consumers are searching for wine and alcohol deliveries -- potentially popular services for homebound Mother’s Day brunches and dinners, he said.

Prior to Mother’s Day in the UK, consumer searches for wine and alcohol deliveries rose 475% YoY. Analyzing U.S. searches, Captify identified a 1,263% YoY increase in searches for wine and alcohol delivery, although it’s not completely clear if Mother’s Day is the catalyst.

Anthropologie emerges as a frontrunner when it comes to popular brands for Mother’s Day gifting. The company runs a higher quantity of sales for mother. In the U.S., searches for popular brands for Mother’s Day gifting rose 908% in the U.S., while they rose 200% in the UK.

Captify data shows that flowers and e-cards remain popular gifts, despite the pandemic. Both markets saw increases in consumer searches during the time frame analyzed, but U.S. searches are expected to rise as the Mother’s Day holiday approaches.

Searches for flowers rose 623% in the UK two weeks prior to the country’s Mother’s Day holiday, and they rose 71% in the U.S. between April 9 and 23.

The U.S. brand 1-800-Flowers experienced a 132% increase in consumer searches during the two-week period, but searches are expected to increase as it gets closer to May 10, the U.S. Mother’s Day holiday.

Ecards searches rose 400% in the UK and 99% in the U.S., during the same time frame. Hallmark saw heavy consumer search activity leading up to UK Mother’s Day, and Captify expects that trend to continue as Mother’s Day approaches in the U.S.