Consumers this year will celebrate Mother’s Day with practicality in mind. Americans will spend an average of $162.94 on mom this year, down from a survey high of $168.94 last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2014 Mother’s Day Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Total spending is expected to reach $19.9 billion.

“As one of the most universally celebrated holidays, retailers will take this opportunity to attract Mother’s Day shoppers with promotions on ladies apparel items, health and beauty products, jewelry and even restaurant options,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Now fully into spring, retailers are hoping consumer sentiment and spending intentions continue to grow as we round out one of the busiest retail seasons of the year and prepare for summer.”

Most consumers will acknowledge their appreciation of all their moms do with a greeting card (81.3%), though many will also look for special gifts. Two-thirds (66.6%) of those celebrating will buy mom her favorite flowers, spending a total of $2.3 billion, and 33.5% will look for spring sweaters and blouses, spending a total of $1.7 billion on apparel and accessory items. Mom’s loved ones also will buy books and CDs ($480 million), housewares or gardening tools ($812 million) and jewelry ($3.6 billion).·

However, if mom does have her eye on something special for herself, there are still good things to come in the form of gift cards: 43.3% of those shopping for a gift for mom will buy her a gift card, up from 41.5% last year. Total spending on gift cards is expected to reach $2.1 billion, up from $2 billion last year.·

“Americans haven’t forgotten about the state of the economy and are treating their finances and gift-giving budgets in a way that keeps practicality top of mind,” said Prosper’s Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow. “But like we saw with Valentine’s Day and Easter, people this year will look for special ways to treat mom to something nice without breaking the bank, knowing it’s the thought that counts.”

Many shoppers will head to specialty stores to find gifts (33.5%), but others will shop at department stores (32.4%), discount stores (24%) and online (29%).

The survey found 18-24-year-olds are the most likely to shop at department stores among all other age groups: more than half (51.6%) will visit a department store in search for their perfect gift for mom. Meanwhile, those aged 25-34 will spend the most on mom, spending an average of $216.53.

Nearly two-thirds (63.9%) of those surveyed say they will shop for their mother or stepmother, while 22.5% will shop for their wife, 9.2% will shop for their daughter and 6.6% will shop for their grandmother.

For the survey, 6,535 consumers were polled April 1-8. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

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