Submitted by Ann Sung Ruckstuhl | Chief Marketing Officer, SOASTA
Mother’s Day is a holiday loaded with antic-appointment – that is the anticipation of something great and the expectation that things won’t turn out like you want.
SOASTA teamed up with the Harris Poll and surveyed moms across America and discovered that 40 percent of US moms have been disappointed on Mother’s Day. We discovered that half of American moms would buy themselves a gift if they were disappointed on Mother’s Day, with nearly 1 in 5 doing so on Mother’s Day (16%), 14 percent theMonday after, and 14 percent the week after.
So that means there’s a new shopping trend on the horizon – what we’re dubbing “Mother’s Me Week.”
That means retailers need to be ready. They cannot just test in advance of Mother’s Day. Instead they need a different approach: continuous testing and performance analytics for their online stores to ensure a quality user experience.
This is important because nearly one in two moms (45 percent) say they would buy something online immediately to improve their mood if they were disappointed on Mother’s Day.
The number one choice was shoes, followed by tickets to a movie/theater/concert, massage appointment, jewelry, purse, going out clothes, and makeup.
My favorite choices?
4 percent said they wanted a better husband. Two percent said they wanted better children.
The upshot of our research?
Everyone should make Mother’s Day special.
But if families don’t do their part, then stores need to do their part. And that comes from pleasing the moms (finally!) with a great online shopping experience during “Mother’s Me Week” through continuous testing and performance analytics.
SOASTA Warns 40% of Moms Have Been Disappointed On Mother’s Day
Stores Should Prepare for “Mother’s Me Week” Online Onslaught
SOASTA, the leader in performance analytics, released the results of its “Mother’s Me Week” Study which discovered that 40 percent of US moms have been disappointed on Mother’s Day. The research discovered that half of American moms would buy themselves a gift if they were disappointed on Mother’s Day, with nearly 1 in 5 doing so on Mother’s Day (16%), 14 percent theMonday after, and 14 percent the week after. SOASTA commissioned the online research, conducted on their behalf by Harris Poll among nearly 700 US moms, to alert retailers about the need for continuous testing and performance analytics for their online stores to ensure a quality user experience – whether it’s for key shopping events like Mother’s Day or new emerging shopping trends like Mother’s Me Week.
Over 1 in 10 American moms (12 percent) said problems with gifts caused them to be disappointed with Mother’s Day, including:
- I had to buy my own gift – 5 percent
- I could tell the gift was bought at the last minute – 5 percent
- Gift wasn’t thoughtful – 5%
- Gift was something I needed instead of something I wanted – 3 percent
Moms listed other reasons they were disappointed for Mother’s Day, including: “I wasn’t recognized at all” (12 percent); I had to do housework (10 percent); Spouse/partner only cared about their own mom not me (9 percent); kids didn’t acknowledge it properly (9 percent); the attention felt forced/obligatory (8 percent); Mother’s Day didn’t last the whole day – just a few minutes (7 percent); and family fights (5 percent).
Nearly one in two moms (45 percent) said they would buy something online immediately to improve their mood if they were disappointed on Mother’s Day, including: shoes (13 percent); tickets to a movie/theater/concert (13 percent); massage appointment (12 percent); jewelry (12 percent); purse (10 percent); going out clothes (10 percent); and makeup (10 percent). The choices with the least interest were “better husband” (4 percent) and “better children” (2 percent).
“We’re hoping both families and stores take our Mother’s Day warning to heart,” said Tom Lounibos, CEO, SOASTA. “Everyone should make Mother’s Day special. If families don’t do their part, then stores need to ensure that disappointed moms can count on a quality retail therapy experience that only comes with continuous testing and performance analytics.”
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of SOASTA from April 27 – 29, 2015 among 680 American moms ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables please contact SOASTA.
About SOASTA
SOASTA is the leader in performance analytics. The SOASTA platform enables digital business owners to gain unprecedented and continuous performance insights into their real user experience on mobile and Web devices – in real time, and at scale. For more information about SOASTA, please visithttp://www.soasta.com .
