New Optimove Report Reveals Mother’s Day 2026 as a Dual Moment for Brands to Win New Customers and Protect Existing Ones
New York, April 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Optimove, the creator of Positionless Marketing, today released its 2026 Mother’s Day Shopping Report. The findings reveal both an opportunity and a risk that retail brands cannot afford to ignore. Forty-nine percent (49%) of shoppers now use AI tools to discover gift ideas. And 64% say they are likely or very likely to purchase from a new or unfamiliar online merchant. The data presents a clear dual challenge: brands must protect the customers they already have while capturing shoppers who are actively open to trying someone new. In a market this fluid, standing still is not an option.
The report, based on a March/April 2026 survey of 648 U.S. consumers with household incomes of $75,000 or more, shows that Mother’s Day shoppers begin with strong intent. Eighty percent (80%) say they usually or always decide where they will shop before they begin, but that intent is not commitment. Consumers actively research, compare, and remain open to discovery throughout the journey. In a market where nearly two-thirds of shoppers are willing to try an unfamiliar brand, no existing customer relationship can be taken for granted.
This is precisely where Positionless Marketing becomes essential. The same platform that helps brands understand when a valued customer may be drifting toward a competitor can also detect the signals that a new customer is actively considering them. The ability to act on both simultaneously, without waiting for handoffs between data, creative, and activation teams, is what separates the brands that win from those that watch the opportunity pass.
“Mother’s Day is both a retention moment and an acquisition moment,” said Pini Yakuel, CEO of Optimove. “The brands that win will be the ones that can read the signals in real time, knowing when a loyal customer needs to be reminded why they chose you, and when a new shopper is close enough to convert if you show up with the right message at the right moment. That is what Positionless Marketing makes possible.”
Additional findings from the report underscore the importance of relevance and timing:
Quality is the top driver of gift choice, selected by 51% of shoppers, but price and personalization follow closely at 18% and 22% respectively. Brands that lead with quality messaging while delivering personally relevant offers are best positioned to win.
Relevance and personalization drive attention more than discounts. When asked what makes marketing messages stand out, 36% of shoppers cited relevance and 34% cited personalization, far ahead of discounts alone at 14%.
Price accelerates purchase timing. 80% of shoppers say an early sale would motivate them to buy right away, giving brands a powerful tool to pull conversions forward — but only when the offer already feels relevant.
Mother’s Day shopping is omnichannel. Forty-seven percent (47%) of shoppers plan to buy both in person and online, and 81% check prices on mobile while in stores. Brands must deliver a consistent, connected experience across every touchpoint.
The full 2026 Mother’s Day Shopping Report fielded in March/April 2026 is available at optimove.com.
About Optimove
Optimove, the creator of Positionless Marketing, frees marketing teams from the limitations of fixed roles, giving every marketer the power to execute any marketing task instantly and independently. Positionless Marketing has been proven to improve campaign efficiency by 88%, allowing marketing teams to create more personalized engagement with existing customers.
For two years running, Optimove has been positioned as a Visionary in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs, recognized for its AI-driven decisioning, prescriptive insights, and proven ability to orchestrate thousands of personalized campaigns in real time across channels. AI-led marketing is a hallmark of Optimove’s visionary leadership. By embedding AI directly into its platform as early as 2012, Optimove paved the way for today’s Positionless Marketing standard.
Its Positionless Marketing Platform includes Optimove Engage and Orchestrate for cross-channel campaign decisioning and orchestration; Optimove Personalize, a digital personalization engine; and Optimove Gamify, a loyalty and gamification platform.
Today, its comprehensive AI-powered suite is at the leading edge of empowering marketers to streamline workflows from Insight to Creation and through Optimization. Optimove provides industry-specific and use-case solutions for leading consumer brands globally.
About Optimove Insights
Optimove Insights is the analytical and research arm of Optimove, dedicated to providing valuable industry insights and data-driven research to empower B2C businesses.
