• by Sarah Mahoney , May 1, 2007

While consumers can buy Mom a gift card at just about any retailer these days, Lands' End is making it personal. For an extra $5, shoppers can buy a gift card with a voice-recording device, so that Mom can push a button and play back her loved one's message as often as she wants.

The company says the concept supports its brand image of personalization for women shoppers, whether it's monogramming or mixing and matching bathing suit styles. (Swimsuit offerings on its Web site, for example, allow women to shop either by body type or anxiety zone, to customize suits and then test-drive them on virtual models.)

The effort is also a clever bid to counter consumers' main objection to gift cards: That they seem only slightly more personal than a $50 bill and are inappropriate for sentimental gifts.

"People say a gift card isn't personal enough, but this makes it very personal," says a Lands' End spokesperson. "It's really allowing that emotional connection."

The packaging is based on children's artwork, she says, which adds to the family-friendly nature. "This is something even the littlest kids can do for Mom."

The National Retail Federation estimates that consumers will spend $15.73 billion this Mother's Day (May 13). While there are no estimates about how much will be spent on gift cards, the last (winter) holiday season was huge for gift cards, reaching $27.8 billion and exceeding the $24.8 billion initially forecast by NRF. Lands' End, based in Dodgeville, Wisc., doesn't disclose how much of its sales are in gift cards.

Relatedly, search engine Shopzilla polled more than 1,000 mothers and found that 47% of them say they are the least happy camper in the family. Most (64%) feel like there is not enough time in the day to get everything done, 44% of moms feel overworked or overwhelmed, and 39% of moms feel taken for granted by family members.

The poll found that 54% of moms are worried about money. Nearly 7 out of 10 moms set gift limits at $50 or less, and just over a third say $50 is too much.