What you need to know
Consumer spending for the spring/summer events in 2019 was up against tough comparatives from 2018. Last year consumer spending for seasonal events during the spring/summer months were boosted by one-off occasions like the Royal Wedding in May and the FIFA World Cup in July. Despite this, consumer spending for Mother’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day in 2019 amounted to £3.2 billion, up 3.3% year on year. Consumer confidence over the period remained high with many confident in both their current financial situation and for the upcoming year which was reflected in the continuing rise in spending on seasonal events for the spring/summer months in 2019.
The majority of spending on these events was driven by food purchases as consumers celebrate these events with food-based activities such as dining out or having a special home cooked lunch/dinner. The spring/summer events are also heavily centred on gifting and as such, much of the consumer expenditure for these events is bolstered by the purchase of physical gifts. For gift purchasing consumers look for unique gifts which bring a personal sentiment especially for Mother’s and Father’s Day gifts. Likewise for Easter, consumers look for novel and innovative gifts and this year the grocery multiples reimagined the traditional Chocolate Easter bunny in a variety of ways with new shapes sizes and flavours giving a modern twist to the classic Chocolate Easter egg.
Products covered in this Report
This Report focusses on the three major annual retail events that fall in the spring/summer months: Mother’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day. Unlike in last year’s Report, Valentine’s Day is not included in this year’s report and is instead included within Mintel’s Seasonal Shopping (Autumn/Winter) – UK, April 2019 Report. For each of these events we provide an estimated market size along with in-depth research, which focuses on:
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What gifts consumers buy for each of these events and how much they spend
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What activities consumers do to celebrate these events
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Where consumers shopped for gifts for these events
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Consumer behaviours and attitudes towards these events
The market size for this Report (reflecting the Report focus) covers Mother’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day. This year’s market size excludes Valentine’s Day and leisure sales (consumer expenditure on leisure activities). The market size for 2019 focuses on gift purchases by consumers and as such includes retail sales. Retail sales include all gift products and occasion food purchased for each event.
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