Cards, Bling And Bouquets, Meals And ‘Mom’S Day Off’ Top Gifts Mom Wants To Receive On Mother’S Day, According To Discover® Card Mother’S Day Shopping Survey

May 8, 2006
Riverwoods, IL, May 8, 2006 – They're multi-tasking women who deftly handle everything from diapers and deadlines to carpooling and conference calls. They're moms, of course, and while they like bouquets and bling, they also want a break, according to a Mother's Day Shopping Survey, released today by Discover Card. The survey also revealed a wide range of projected shopping trends and spending patterns for Mother's Day on May 14.

Moms Want Flowers, Kind Words, and a Day Off – But Will She Get Them?

Top survey findings reveal that:

· In general, mothers and children agree when it comes to the classic Mother's Day combination of a card and flowers. More than half of the mothers polled, 51 percent, said they hope to receive a card, and 52 percent of respondents are looking forward to giving mom some thoughtful words for the occasion. Similarly, 36 percent of mothers are wishing for flowers…and 31 percent of children plan on buying them.

·But other top items on mom's list didn't fare as well. While 31 percent of moms want to be taken to a restaurant, only 13 percent of consumers said they would take their mothers out to eat.

· Moms hoping for some bling or a well-deserved break may be disappointed. Twenty-six percent of mothers said they want jewelry but only 11 percent of respondents anticipate buying their mothers trinkets or diamonds. Likewise, 26 percent of moms said they wanted a “day off” from family responsibilities but only two percent of respondents intend to give this treat as a gift.

Spending Varies For Wives, Mothers, and Mothers-in-Law

Discover Card's survey results reveal trends on who's spending what on whom:

·The Women in Their Lives: Of course, men still love their moms, but they're spending more on their wives ($44 on moms, $63 on wives).

·Mother's Day vs. Valentine's Day: Men are more inclined to break out their wallets on Valentine's Day than on Mother's Day. According to Discover Card's earlier Valentine's Day Shopping Survey, men anticipated spending $127 for the perfect V-Day gift for their sweethearts or spouses, which is significantly more than the $63 husbands plan to spend on Mother's Day gifts for their wives.

·Moms Before Mothers-in-Law: Respondents were almost three times as likely to buy a present for their own mother than they would for their mothers-in-law, as 60 percent said they would purchase a gift for their mothers while only 19 percent plan to do so for their mothers-in-law.

“Moms rarely let their own needs and preferences take center stage. With May 14 just around the corner, we wanted to uncover what they're really wishing for on their special day, to help consumers find that perfect gift for mom.” said Margo Georgiadis, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Discover Financial Services. “We also hope to provide our merchant partners with some insights into how to make this year's Mother's Day shopping experience a great one.”

Georgiadis also noted that consumers can extend their buying power by taking advantage of credit card rewards programs.

“At Discover, Cardmembers can earn cash rewards on every single purchase this Mother's Day, ” said Georgiadis. “They also have the ability to double their rewards when they redeem with many of our 60 brand-name Partners.”

Promotions Drive Spending, and Most Shoppers Won't Wait Until the Last Minute

According to Discover Card's survey, promotions and special sales have a distinct impact on how much people will spend on Mother's Day—and most shoppers plan on buying gifts with plenty of time to spare. Some key findings:

·Thirty-four percent of all respondents said that retailer special sale days or markdowns would make them “much more likely to spend more” on Mother's Day gifts. Among this group, women are more likely to spend more on mom during a sale (39 percent) than men (28 percent). Coupons or rebates would persuade 27 percent of shoppers to spend more on Mother's Day, while free shipping for online purchases would convince 22 percent of respondents to spend more.

·While a majority of respondents will purchase Mother's Day gifts at "brick and mortar" stores (80 percent), about a quarter of those buying for mom this year (23 percent) will make their purchases online. Only six percent intend on using a mail order catalog for their Mother's Day shopping.

·Nearly one in five consumers (19 percent) said they will purchase gifts within one to two days of Mother's Day, while two percent said that they will hit the stores looking for gifts for mom on Mother's Day itself.



About the Discover Card Mother's Day Shopping Survey

For Discover Card's Mother's Day Shopping Survey, an online survey was conducted with a total of 1,000 nationally-representative adults (500 males and 500 females). The research was conducted from April 12-19, 2006 by Creative & Response Research Services, Inc.

About Discover Financial Services LLC

Discover Financial Services LLC, a business unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), operates the Discover® Card with more than 50 million Cardmembers, the Discover Network with more than 4 million merchant and cash access locations and the PULSE ATM/debit network which serves more than 4,100 financial institutions and includes more than 3.2 million merchant terminals and 250,000 ATMs. For more information, visit www.discovercard.com, www.discovernetwork.com or www.pulse-eft.com.

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Media Contact:
Mai Lee Ua
Public Relations
(224) 405-3082
maileeua@discoverfinancial.com