Cake, Flowers and…Beer? Surprising Tidbits from GrabAds’ First Mother’s Day Shopper Insights

Mother’s Day is celebrated in over 50 countries all over the world, but no two markets are completely alike in the way they celebrate mums. This year, GrabAds – the advertising unit of Southeast Asia’s leading superapp, Grab – conducted a survey with consumers in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines to find how they are planning to celebrate their mums for the coming Mother’s Day.

By analysing the survey findings alongside past GrabFood and GrabMart transaction trends for the Mother’s Day period over the past year, this has revealed surprising tidbits that could be useful in helping you find the perfect gift that warms the heart, and palate, of your beloved mum.

Here’s what we found:

1. Mother’s Day shopping, now via superapps – 67% of surveyed consumers in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines plan to buy Mother’s Day gifts this year, with an overwhelming majority (78%) intending to purchase their gifts via apps like Grab this time round¹.
2. Mother’s Day ranks among the days with the highest user traffic on the Grab app – Last year, Mother’s Day emerged as the day with the highest user traffic on the Grab app in the Philippines. In fact, more consumers in the Philippines use the Grab app on Mother’s Day than on Christmas Day. In Singapore and Malaysia, Mother’s Day also ranks among the most popular days in terms of user traffic on the Grab app, coming in at 7th and 11th place respectively for these markets².

3. Consumers are more generous when they shop for mum – Consumers in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines are more willing to spend more on Mother’s Day, forking out an average of +30% more per order on GrabFood and +10% more per order on GrabMart for the occasion¹.
4. Cakes and flowers top the list as the most popular Mother’s Day gifts – Not surprisingly, cakes and flowers top the list as the most popular Mother’s Day gifts in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. In fact, Grab delivered 20 times² more flowers on Mother’s Day in Singapore compared to an average day, surpassing even the amount of flowers delivered on Valentine’s Day in the past year – with carnations, roses and sunflowers among the top picks by Singapore consumers.
5. Herbs, beer, meat and international cuisine emerge as surprise favourites on Mother’s Day – Looking at past consumer transaction trends did yield some surprise findings. For one, herbs and beer emerged as unexpected favourites for Singapore consumers, with a surge in demand by 2X and 1.3X respectively on Mother’s Day in the past year². In Malaysia, meat-based ingredients were surprisingly popular on Mother’s Day with a 1.6X surge in orders² via GrabMart last year, while in the Philippines, international cuisine, pizza and pork-based dishes experienced a 2X, 2X and 1.5X increase in demand respectively².
6. Rising trend of sending gifts via Grab deliveries rather than gifting in person – Even as local safety measures ease, not everyone is able to celebrate Mother’s Day with their beloved mums in person. As such, Grab has also seen a significant spike in the volume of GrabExpress parcel deliveries in Malaysia by +200%, and in Singapore by +50% on Mother’s Day² last year, showing that Covid-19 restrictions and distance are no longer barriers to making mums feel special.

“When it comes to e-commerce shopping days, many brands are excited about days like 11.11 and 12.12, but sometimes miss out on traditional shopping days like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Since the pandemic has trained consumers in Southeast Asia to shop on their phones, we anticipate that online-to- offline superapps will play a much bigger role in shaping the shopper behaviours for the coming Mother’s Day.

This is where a superapp like Grab is positioned to capture some of these shifts in behaviours, to help brands and consumers meet their needs for a great Mother’s Day celebration,” said Ken Mandel, Regional Managing Director and Head of GrabAds and Brand Insights.

Established in 2018, GrabAds is an integrated advertising solutions provider which provides advertisers with multiple channels, such as in-app advertising, branding and product sampling via the Grab ecosystem, for building awareness, engaging audiences and triggering action across the Grab platform.

Through its advertising and technology capabilities, GrabAds aims to help people discover, engage, and connect with the best businesses in Southeast Asia. For more information, visit GrabAds For Business.

¹Statistics based on a survey conducted by GrabAds, with 1,992 consumers in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines
² Statistics based on GrabFood and GrabMart transaction trends in 2021