Swindon shoppers expected to spend £7.2 million on gifts for Mother's Day

Mums in Swindon can expect to be treated this Mother’s Day as new research shows the region will splash out a huge £7.2m on gifts, family meals and days out.

A survey of over 2,000 people by British Land, co-owner of Orbital, found that Swindon residents will spend a whopping £594k on greetings cards and £888k on pamper products. Mothers in the region do deserve a treat as over half of mums polled admit to having less than an hour’s ‘me time’ each day. Traditional gifts such as greetings cards (84%), flowers (64%) and chocolates (32%) top the list of this year’s most popular Mother’s Day presents. However, some Swindon mums are hoping their children say ‘thank you’ in other ways, with one in six (16%) wanting to unwrap their favourite perfume and a quarter hoping for a good book. As well as receiving gifts, local mums want to spend quality time with their families this Mother’s Day – be it going out for a family lunch (28%) or enjoying each other’s company at home (68%). That said, nearly one in six (14%) Swindon mums would prefer to spend the day doing something for themselves, and favourite ‘me time’ activities include bingeing on Netflix (36%), enjoying a hot bath (40%) and catching up with friends (44%). Jamie Turner, centre manager at Orbital, said: “Mother’s Day is one of the busiest times of year for us, with shoppers keen to show their mums some much-deserved appreciation. Our research shows just how important this is as lots of mums admit to having less than an hour for themselves each day. “Traditional Mother’s Day gifts will always be popular, but this year we’ve also seen more people choosing treats such as breakfast in bed, books and pamper products."