Top Gift Voucher Trends For Mother's Day 2021
Make more from your gift voucher shop.
We looked at data from across our portfolio to identify what worked in 2020. Now we've identifed the following trends to help you sell more gift vouchers in 2021, starting with Mother's Day 2021.
Mum’s the word.
Mother’s Day originated centuries ago as a celebration of family and community values. Traditionally, the ‘mother’ actually stood for a church. People of all ages would return to the village they grew up in for a service and a family dinner. For hardworking labourers and service workers it was a time to reconnect with their loved ones. Which we think sounds rather lovely.
Christmas aside, it was often the only time working children and parents saw each other in a year, which may have seemed hard for us to imagine last Mother’s Day. The pandemic has changed that. Few people are able to bubble with everyone they care about. Now most of us have experience in going long periods of time without seeing our family and friends.
In the beginning of the twentieth century Mother’s Day grew into the day we know it as today. In 1905 an American called Anna Jarvis began a campaign for an official holiday honouring mothers, the year her mother died. The timing made sense for other reasons, too. As people moved to the cities for work, so extended families broke into smaller nuclear units. The mother was the centre of many homes, doing the bulk of the housework and childcare alone. Feminism grew and women sought more value for their contribution to home life.
Gift-giving on 14th March
Mother’s Day has a long history, but that doesn’t mean it has to stay the same.
The pandemic is a mass collective experience, maybe this day will shine some light on our loved ones more generally.
This year, make your voucher shop somewhere people can easily treat other family members and friends. Think gifts that can be sent to an aunt or a grandma living far away, or to a neighbour down the road.
Not everyone has a Mum but everyone has someone they have missed this year!
Get Mother’s Day ready
You can create an unlimited amount of categories within your shop, so adapt your offering throughout the year. Create a seasonal Mother’s Day category and package up some of your existing vouchers.
Highlight that vouchers have a long validity. When we are allowed, everyone will be eager to go out to eat, have a night away, etc. If you are offering dine at home and take away options in the meantime, promote monetary vouchers that can be exchanged for these.
Make sure you share these gifts on social with a countdown to the 14th March or a ‘Mum’s wish list’ including spa treatments, afternoon teas, etc.
Finally, link your gift voucher shop from your social accounts, and set the category to ‘featured’ to display it on your shop's homepage.
Extended Validity is a must
Through lockdown voucher sales have remained strong.
Birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines and many more events may be affected by lockdown but they are certainly not cancelled. Experience vouchers – always great gifts – are now one of the most practical and unique gift options.
What’s more, while people cannot make reservations in their favourite restaurants, book a massage or a night away, they can still treat themselves to a voucher. And our data shows that they are.
Make sure you extend your voucher validity and share that you have done on social. This helps to reassure your guests that they can book with confidence.
Don’t be afraid to be obvious
Make sure your gift voucher button is prominent!
Maybe your spa or your menu is a place for subtlety. Not your homepage. If you can’t easily spot your gift voucher button there, how will they?
The importance of the position of your button on your website – can you see it on mobile? Is it hidden in the navigation?
Stay on trend
As we move through the year keep your finger on the pulse! We’ve pulled through some trends for the whats, wheres and whens that worked last year!
Busiest days for posting: Black Friday
Busiest days for sales during November and December: Thursdays and Fridays
Mobile 51% vs 43% desktop
Bestselling voucher types: Afternoon Tea
Takeaways
The old maxim diamonds are made under pressure rings true for sales. People will buy right up to a deadline. 100 vouchers were ordered on Christmas Day itself, no doubt looking for last minute presents. Make sure you're pushing for sales right up to the last day of posting and beyond!
Mobile optimisation. Most people will purchase on mobile, so go with a mobile first approach to your gift voucher shop and website.
Afternoon Tea is king, but people also appreciate the flexibility of monetary.
Market Your Vouchers
We found a direct correlation between marketing activity and voucher sales.
Consistent marketing builds trust and ensures you are front of mind when your guests are gift buying. Client A generated over £60,000 in sales from a mix of social and email marketing in the advent period between the 1/12/2020 and the 24/12/2020.
With that said, specfic marketing campaigns are great at drumming up new customers. We led a Black Friday campaign for Client B by creating a BF category with a landing page, Facebook event, social posts, and 'sale preview', 'shop now' and 'last chance to shop' emails. They sold 166 vouchers in the days leading up to Black Friday.
Want to sell more gift vouchers with us? Speak to a member of our team today.