Coffee Chat with Eric #14: Gift Cards and Mother's Day

May 8, 2025: ☕️ Hey everyone, a special holiday is coming up -- Mother's Day! 💐🎁

For those of us in the US, we will spend an estimated $2.5+ billion on gift cards for Mother’s Day...but do moms really want a gift card?

The short answer: YES—and I’m not just saying that as an incentive/gift card junkie.

My Coffee Chat this week shares why, with some fun insights into what moms prefer, how shoppers choose gift cards for that special Mom in their life, and the growing role of local merchants in the Mother’s Day equation:

• 45% of American shoppers buy a gift card for Mother’s Day

• The top four gift items at Mother’s Day are...

  • Meal out

  • Flowers

  • Handmade gift

  • Gift Cards

• 63% of mothers aged 25-55 prefer gift cards for Mother's Day

• 92% of Mother’s Day shoppers will explore local businesses when purchasing gift cards

A shoutout to some of the companies behind the scenes, powering and distributing gift card programs for SMBs and local merchants: Card Market, eCard Systems, eGifter, Wolfe LLC, Shopify, GiftFly, Shift4 (formerly Givex), Square, 99minds, and many others.