- Mother’s Day spending increased by 4.4% last year (Mintel, 2024) driven primarily by an increase in participation, with six in ten consumers now purchasing for Mother’s Day. Sweet biscuits grew by just under 7% last year across most grocery channels (NIQ Total Coverage we 17 02 25 YoY). Outside the major supermarket chains, impulse outlets delivered £267m of sweet biscuit sales in the last year, equating to 3% year-on-year growth.
- This presents an opportunity for convenience stores to increase revenue, particularly through indulgent sweet treats. Robin Norton, Head of Category Insights at Fox’s Burton’s Companies, shares his insights on how to maximise sales this Mother’s Day.
Stretch spend with premium portfolios
Premium sweet biscuit brands lend themselves to gifting, more so than own label and “everyday” biscuits: they feel more special and have more expensive, indulgent recipes. According to Mintel, 39% of UK consumers now purchase biscuits as gifts, with Mother’s Day being one of those prime occasions. Consumers are looking for premium products with which to treat their loved ones, so it is important these products are well-stocked around Mother’s Day and on a clean and clear shelf, that allows the premium feel to come through.
Premium brands like Thomas Fudge’s Florentines, Fox’s Chocolatey Rounds and Fox’s Cookies sell well around Mother’s Day. Thomas Fudge’s, which recently improved its recipe and packaging for an even more premium feel, achieved a 416% increase in sales over Mother’s Day last year. These brands offer premium packaging and flavours associated with gifting and indulgence such as fruit, nuts, salted caramel, milk and dark chocolate. Premium biscuits make a great addition to a basket that includes a card, a bunch of flowers or a bottle.
Strategic and enticing store layout
Strategic store layouts can maximise sales: place impulse buys like sweet biscuits next to items shoppers commonly purchased for Mother’s Day, such as flowers and wine. In fact, 58% of consumers make unplanned purchases on Mother’s Day (2023 National Retail Federation (NRF) survey), so there’s a great opportunity to stretch spend during occasions like Mother’s Day. Bundling items together – like premium biscuits, cards and flowers – adds further opportunity for impulse purchases.
In our experience, matching primary colours with more premium, darker tones, makes a display visually appealing: bright pink or yellow tulips placed next to dark coloured biscuit packaging create a standout selection that will drive customers to your shelves. Most people buy more than one product for Mother’s Day – why not make it flowers AND biscuits?
As an example, our Thomas Fudge’s range shows the strongest product association with wine and 2024’s Mother’s Day promos even outperformed the Christmas peak in terms of sales (Shopper data 52we 23 02 2024).
Preparing to celebrate at home
Convenience stores can be the go-to source of inspiration for busy sons and daughters looking to celebrate Mother’s Day at home. Confidence in the economy is still low and we expect most people to prioritise celebrations at home again this year, rather than splashing out on a meal in a restaurant, for example. Biscuit assortments or shortbread with tea/coffee can elevate a Sunday dinner or afternoon tea at home. FBC’s range is well-placed to drive sales around these special occasions; Fox’s sweet biscuit assortments are the number 1 selling assortments in the GB market, and Paterson’s is GB’s leading shortbread brand (Combined Read of NIQ Total Coverage 52we 22 02 25 + Kantar Variety Retail 52we 23 02 25).
Retail media
During high-traffic events like Mother’s Day, the use of retail media to drive shoppers to a specific shelf or area of the store is a powerful tool to boost sales. Working with your wholesalers and branded suppliers, retail media can boost the shopping experience, increasing the chance of shoppers engaging with your range.
In the absence of any branded retail media, a simple table display or end-of-aisle shelf with an attractive, hand-written sign stating “Mother’s Day Sunday 30 March 2025” can help inspire some urgency and let your staff (or children) flex their creativity!
Cater to different demographics
It’s not always at the forefront of our minds, but the age of mums spans from teens into three figures. It’s therefore important to offer a variety of biscuits to cater for all ages, and what better way to do that than through assortments?
Whatever the age group, biscuit assortments provide a perfect treat to say thank you to ‘mum’ on Mother’s Day, or any other day of the year. There’s nothing quite like going round for a cuppa and spending quality time with the family, and biscuit assortments have something for everybody; be that dark chocolate for dad, milk chocolate for the kids, or plain biscuits for the purists in the family. Quality biscuits, like the Fox’s Classic range, are perfect for mum to relax in her own time, with an indulgent treat in front of the TV or with a book.
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