Flowwow research reveals how Brits are shopping for Mother’s Day 2025
Personalisation, speed, and cultural relevance are reshaping the gifting landscape as spending climbs to £2.4 billion
New research from global gifting marketplace Flowwow reveals that UK consumers are expected to spend £2.4 billion on Mother’s Day gifts this year — a 5% increase from 2024. With more than 62% of Brits planning to celebrate the occasion, the data highlights fast-growing demand for personalised, eco-conscious, and experience-based gifts, as well as a shift in how consumers are shopping.
The findings reflect a broader transformation within the UK gifting and e-commerce sectors. As competition intensifies, traditional retailers, niche platforms, and super-apps are all competing for consumer attention — especially during key seasonal moments like Mother’s Day.
Key consumer trends from Flowwow’s 2025 research
-
Gifting starts early: Shoppers began searching for Mother’s Day gifts as early as January 26, with England and Scotland leading interest.
-
Experiences take the lead: 46% of Brits prefer gifting an experience over a physical item, with dining out, pampering, and creative activities gaining popularity.
-
Cards and flowers still matter: 43% of mums say they’d most like a greeting card, followed by flowers (39%), a meal out (34%), and something handmade (28%).
-
Personalised and sustainable gifts are on the rise: 53% of shoppers plan to buy personalised gifts, while 61% are actively seeking sustainable and eco-friendly options.
-
Speed is essential: Same-day delivery continues to grow, especially for flowers and last-minute orders. Retailers offering fast logistics are winning over late shoppers.
-
Online dominates: 62% of shoppers will buy gifts online in 2025, reflecting continued growth in the e-gifting space.
-
Cultural relevance adds value: In diverse cities like London, Birmingham, and Manchester, Mother’s Day overlaps with holidays like Eid and Easter. Retailers offering culturally inclusive and relevant gifting options are expanding their reach.
A competitive and consolidating market
Flowwow’s research also reveals a changing competitive landscape. Once dominated by single-brand platforms like Bloom & Wild, Moonpig, and Interflora, the online gifting market is now attracting large universal players such as Amazon, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Glovo. These super-apps benefit from wide customer bases, strong logistics, and high brand visibility.
Flowwow CEO and Co-founder Slava Bogdan believes niche platforms can still thrive, by doing what the giants can’t.
“We are witnessing how increased competition, not only in the UK but also globally in the e-commerce market, particularly in the gifting and services segment, is leading to consolidation. Smaller players are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with large, universal platforms such as Deliveroo and UberEats, which have vast customer bases, large marketing budgets, and well-established logistics.
In this environment, niche companies are either merging or exiting the market, although there is a third option — success through unique offerings and localised services. Niche players can not only survive but even thrive by focusing on innovations such as personalised products and exclusive offerings that mass-market retailers cannot provide. Too many companies are chasing scale, while strategic players who can combine local presence, attention to detail, and rapid adaptation to changing consumer needs will emerge as long-term winners.”
Flowwow currently partners with over 15,000 local shops across 40+ countries, including the UK. The brand enables small retailers to compete on convenience and visibility, while offering consumers unique and thoughtful gifting options with fast delivery.