Tariffs Hit Moms’ Holiday-Spending Plans

Though we’ve just put Memorial Day in the rearview mirror, many American moms are already at work on their holiday shopping lists – with an added sense of urgency this year. That’s according to a new BSM Media survey of moms, which found they fear potential price increases and availability issues for this year’s holiday gift-buying season, due mainly to tariff uncertainty.

“What price increases can we expect on imported goods in the coming months? That is the time moms will start shopping for the holidays,” says Maria Bailey, author of “Marketing to Moms” and CEO of BSM Media, which describes itself as the largest network of mom bloggers/influencers. “Moms are planners by nature, so uncertainty is not optimum and may well affect retailers’ bottom line. Moms who keep to their budgets may find that their dollars will not go as far as last year.”

Overall, moms spend $1.6 trillion a year in the U.S. economy and are the decision-makers when it comes to holiday expenditures, BSM notes. To find out that constituency’s current concerns, the company surveyed 500 moms across the U.S. on what matters to them as they gear up for the upcoming holiday gift-buying season. Here are some of the findings from that effort:

• 81% of the moms surveyed are concerned about the impact of tariffs on their families, and 58% intend to change their shopping habits this year for the holidays.
• They are most concerned about groceries, followed by clothing and shoes, home goods and appliances, cars, electronics and toys. Roughly 70% of respondents are worried about how tariffs on toys will impact their holiday shopping. Moms also expressed concern about increased prices (84%), limited choices (51%), limited distribution (39%), online sellouts (36%) and the scarcity of hot toys (27%).
• When asked about how they would adapt their shopping strategies, the majority said that they would limit the number of toys their child receives (51%) or consider purchasing experiences over toys (46%).

Bailey notes that all the tariff-related turmoil could have a silver lining: “The 90-day tariff truce between the U.S. and China could make early Christmas shopping a better deal for moms around the country,” she explains. “There’s the added pleasure of completing the task ahead of schedule, with more time to enjoy the season.”

Click here for more from the survey.