More than just brunches and bouquets, Mother’s Day is a major moment for retailers and restaurants to connect with customers and drive sales. As families gear up to celebrate the moms and caregivers in their lives, businesses have a prime opportunity to show up in thoughtful, creative ways. 

Whether you’re cooking up your Mother’s Day campaigns for the first time, or you’re looking for new ideas to spice things up, the tips and examples below will set you up for success.

Mother’s Day tips for restaurants 

• Advertise your Mother’s Day promotion as a rare event
• Implement offers or discounts
• Highlight your inclusivity
• Run an extended Mother’s Day special
• Consider gifts for moms
• Use email marketing to boost awareness and restaurant traffic
• Try something different with your Mother’s Day menu
• Offer a free meal for mom
• Try SMS marketing
• Don’t forget the cocktails
• Three mistakes to watch out for this Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day tips for retail

• Start sending Mother’s Day reminders to your existing customers and email list
• Create a Mother’s Day gift guide
• Partner up with local flower shops, spas, jewelry stores or restaurants
• Team up with other non-competing businesses
• Encourage your customers to share their mom-centric content
• Have a special Mother’s Day section on your site (and in your store)
• Don’t forget your window displays
• Running online ads? Lead people to specific landing pages
• Offer Mother’s Day-specific products
• Offer convenience through bundles and complimentary services
• Provide value with mom-centric content

Restaurant Mother’s Day promotions and marketing ideas

Mother’s Day is on the horizon, and many restaurants are beginning to promote their brunch menus. Brunch has long been a go-to Mother’s Day tradition, and with many restaurants offering similar promotions, you might be wondering how yours can stand out.

A consistently great menu is what keeps your regulars coming back. But updating your offers and promotions is a smart way to attract new guests—and keep them thinking about you year after year.

1. Advertise your Mother’s Day promotion as a rare event

If you normally don’t offer brunch but you’re making an exception for Mother’s Day, make sure your biggest fans know about it. Post on social media, send announcements to your email contacts and create a mini Mother’s Day advertising campaign to get people excited about trying your special brunch offerings.

You could also try the opposite: if every restaurant in town offers a special brunch menu, you could plan a dinner prix fixe or tasting menu. Your guests who have difficulty getting everyone together on a Sunday morning will thank you.

Check out this example from Kincaid’s, which serves a Mother’s Day prix fixe menu for the entire day.

2. Implement offers or discounts

Promotions are a nice way to make the meal special. Consider offering a complimentary dessert, flowers, specialty cocktails, discounts or other fun extras, like what Restaurant.com is doing below. 

Lightspeed Pulse will allow you to keep track of your performance even if you aren’t at your restaurant, with live sales numbers synced straight from your POS to your phone. You’ll be able to track the impact of these discounts on your revenue in real time.

3. Highlight your inclusivity

Don’t alienate moms and families by catering to a single idea of what a “mom” looks like. The role of a mother can be filled by many people and takes different forms across cultures, families and communities. It’s important to ensure your messaging reflects that diversity and doesn’t exclude anyone.

4. Run an extended Mother’s Day special

Who says Mother’s Day should be limited to one day? If you’re running Mother’s Day specials, consider implementing it throughout the entire weekend. Morton’s The Steakhouse is a great example of this strategy. Instead of limiting their special to Mother’s Day only, they ran an exclusive menu item—the Filet Imperial—from Friday to Sunday. 

By extending your Mother’s Day promotion, you can attract more customers and generate higher revenue over a longer period. This approach also allows you to accommodate customers who may not be available on the day itself.

Leverage Lightspeed Benchmarks & Trends to help you outperform the competition with relevant benchmarks that go beyond general industry averages and help you uncover untapped potential. This tool will help you gain actionable insights on what menu items will give you the best ROI.

5. Consider gifts for moms

Instead of just offering specials for moms, toss a gift into the mix too. Anything you can do to help mom feel special on her big day will help to draw a crowd. 

Classic touches like roses, sweet treats or small surprises go a long way in showing you care.

6. Use email marketing to boost awareness and restaurant traffic

With email marketing, you can send promotional emails to customers and subscribers, highlighting your Mother’s Day specials, offers and discounts.

It’s also a great opportunity to showcase your restaurant’s brand and personality by including visually appealing images, creative messaging and enticing calls to action. With the right approach, email marketing can help your restaurant drive sales, build loyalty and create a memorable Mother’s Day experience for your customers.

Take a look at this example from Gyu-Kaku, which shows off the restaurant’s personality through graphics.

7. Try something different with your Mother’s Day menu

Another option is to break from tradition and do something unique for Mother’s Day.

For example, a chef’s tasting with pairings would be a fantastic event for wine lovers. You can also plan experiences that offer more “out of the box” options. Bars and pubs might host food and drink specials or even live music alongside a baseball game for sports-loving moms and their families.

Check out Lightspeed’s Kitchen Display System, which allows you to display all of your restaurant orders on one screen. This will streamline communication from front to back of house and help you manage all guest orders at a glance—no hiccups, just great service.

8. Offer a free meal for mom

If families are treating mom to a Mother’s Day meal, why not make it easier on them by offering something for free?

Some restaurants go the extra mile, giving away free entrées, desserts or coupons for moms. It’s also a great PR opportunity—offer something free, and you might get featured for it, which means free press for your business.

9. Try SMS marketing

Limited-time promotions or freebies work especially well.

Kape Republik put this into action by texting customers an offer for a free crinkle with every purchase in honor of Mother’s Day.

10. Don’t forget the cocktails

Wine sales tend to spike on Mother’s Day, making it a great opportunity to spotlight your beverage menu.

Get creative with your offerings to make the experience more memorable. Interactive options like a “make your own mimosa” bar, where guests can choose from different juices, fruits and garnishes, add a personal and fun touch. 

Three mistakes to watch out for this Mother’s Day

How do you avoid a kitchen nightmare on one of the busiest days of the year? It starts with preparation. Here are three common Mother’s Day pitfalls—and how to sidestep them.

Offering a new, but confusing menu options

A well-paced prix fixe menu can ease pressure on the kitchen and improve service flow—if it’s clear and easy to understand. Misspelled dishes, confusing item names or overly crowded layouts can leave guests puzzled and slow things down.

Understaffing (or hiring new servers) for the holiday rush

It’s not the day to train new hires or stretch a short staff. Understaffing the floor or having less experienced team members can lead to slow service, stressed-out employees and unhappy guests.

Plan ahead. Make sure your strongest team members are scheduled and consider prepping staff in advance with tips on pacing, upselling and handling high-volume service.

One way to plan ahead is to use data from the previous year. With Lightspeed Insights, you can generate reports on past seasonal periods so you’re ready for the crowd coming in.

Don’t keep mom waiting

Avoid overbooking and don’t seat incomplete parties. It’s tempting to squeeze in as many reservations as possible, but an overwhelmed dining room creates bottlenecks that hurt the guest experience.

Look into segmented seating times for holidays—like offering brunch seatings at 10 AM, 12 PM and 2 PM. This keeps service flowing and gives both guests and staff a better experience.

Retail Mother’s Day promotions and marketing ideas

Before diving into Mother’s Day marketing ideas, take a moment to think about your audience. Who are you trying to reach, and what are their shopping goals for the holiday?

Understanding who your customers are shopping for makes a big difference. Are they buying gifts for their moms or their spouses? Are they celebrating with friends, sisters or daughters? The answers to these questions will help shape your messaging, promotions and audience targeting.

Once you have a handle on who your audience is and the people they’re celebrating, you can start crafting and executing retail marketing campaigns to reach them.

Offer a chance to opt out of Mother’s Day messaging

Mother’s Day can be a sensitive time for some consumers. Depending on your customer base, it may be worth offering an option to pause or opt out of Mother’s Day-related messages.

This may feel counterintuitive, but some experts believe that it can actually improve subscriber retention in the long run.

Kate Muhl, a marketing analyst at Gartner told Morning Brew that giving people the ability to opt-out is a “retention move” that allows brands “to stem the tide of people who are frustrated, hurt and triggered by your [emails], and opt out altogether.”

It can also help you get to know your subscribers better.

According to Josh Pierry, CEO of digital marketing agency Pierry, the practice gives brands more information on the preferences of their customers, which can ultimately be used to create a more relevant experience.

Looking for inspiration on how to frame an opt-out message? Check out this thoughtful example from Tea Drops.

Mother’s Day promotion ideas

Now that we’ve covered some industry trends surrounding Mother’s Day, let’s look at the ways in which you can help your customers celebrate. Here are some campaign and promotion ideas to consider for your business. 

1. Start sending Mother’s Day reminders to your existing customers and email list

Lindsey Winsemius, a digital marketing and content professional, recommends that retailers leverage email marketing to stay on their customers’ radar.

“You could include a list of gift ideas for Mother’s Day, highlighting your most popular products. This helps ensure your consumers are thinking about your business when it comes time for them to buy a Mother’s Day gift.”

One store doing this well is Casetify. Take a look at their email above. Not only did Casetify send out an effective promotion, but they also included a helpful shipping cut-off guide, ensuring customers know exactly when to place their orders to meet deadlines.

One store doing this well is Casetify. Take a look at their email above. Not only did Casetify send out an effective promotion, but they also enclosed a handy shipping cut-off guide to so customers know their order deadlines.

2. Create a Mother’s Day gift guide

Many customers may be unsure of what to buy for Mother’s Day. Help them out by creating a gift guide that allows people to shop based on different categories.

Jewelry retailer Alex and Ani have published a well-organized gift guide to help shoppers find the perfect present. Products are categorized by different parameters, making it easy to browse and shop for the ideal gift.

With Lightspeed, you can easily set up gift cards, allowing customers to let their loved ones choose what they’d like at your store.

3. Partner up with local flower shops, spas, jewelry stores or restaurants

Some retailers recommend partnering with complementary businesses, such as flower shops or restaurants, to boost sales around Mother’s Day. For example, a store could collaborate with a local restaurant to offer gift cards as part of a promotion, benefiting both the retailer and the partner business.

4. Team up with other non-competing businesses

In addition to the business types we mentioned above, you can also get in touch with local retailers—especially those that complement your offerings—and see if they’d be open to handing out your store’s gift cards or coupons. 

For example, if you own a spa or sell wellness products, you could partner with a shoe retailer to offer a coupon for a free foot massage with every $200 purchase.

You can also take your partnership a step further by launching a joint contest or giveaway. For inspiration, take a look at this example from New Zealand-based apparel retailer The Shelter.

Lightspeed NuORDER is also a great place to explore partnerships that could elevate your Mother’s Day offering. The seamless B2B wholesale platform makes it easier to connect with brands and collaborate on unique ideas for seasonal and special occasions.

5. Encourage your customers to share their mom-centric content

Mother’s Day isn’t just about giving gifts. The heart-warming stories or photos that people share about their moms also play a big role during the occasion. Give your customers a chance to tell you more about the people they’re celebrating, while boosting engagement at the same time.

Here’s an example from dress shop eShakti. For Mother’s Day 2017, the company ran a giveaway to encourage customers to share photos and stories about their moms.

Users could submit photos and stories (along with a relevant hashtag) via various social networks for a chance to win eShakti gift cards.

Here’s what made the giveaway even more interesting: everyone was a winner. To further entice people to join, eShakti gave away $20 coupons to every single contest participant. To get their discount, all customers had to do was email the eShakti team a link to their social media post.

6. Have a special Mother’s Day section on your site (and in your store)

Make it easier for Mother’s Day shoppers to find what they’re looking for by adding a special Mother’s Day section on your homepage. 

This tip isn’t limited to online promotions—it works well in brick-and-mortar settings too. If you’re running Mother’s Day specials or highlighting certain products as gifts, create a dedicated section in your store where customers can easily find all the mom-centric items in one place.

Check out this example from the Barnes & Noble in Carbondale.

This is where strong inventory management tools can really make a difference. Lightspeed’s system helps you plan ahead by providing real-time data and forecasting tools to predict seasonal demand.

7. Don’t forget your window displays

Make no mistake—shoppers will be on the lookout for Mother’s Day gift ideas. Put your store on their radar by dressing up your storefront for the occasion. Use window displays to clearly communicate that you’ve got something special for Mother’s Day—don’t be afraid to spell it out!

8. Running online ads? Lead people to specific landing pages

If you’re running PPC ads targeting Mother’s Day keywords, consider creating dedicated landing pages for your campaigns—instead of directing traffic to your generic homepage. A tailored landing page helps keep the experience relevant, increases conversion rates, and makes it easier for shoppers to find exactly what they’re looking for.

9. Offer Mother’s Day-specific products

Consider offering limited-edition, holiday-specific products in your store. If you create your own merchandise, try launching exclusive flavors, designs or bundles just for Mother’s Day. See the example below.

10. Offer convenience through bundles and complimentary services

A lot of shoppers need help finding the perfect Mother’s Day gift, so try to assist them in any way you can. Why not offer bundles complete with giftwrapping services, to give people a convenient shopping experience?

11. Provide value with mom-centric content

Consider creating non-salesy content for Mother’s Day. If you have a blog or newsletter, why not share useful content with your audience?

For instance, if you’re a craft store, you could put together an article about Mother’s Day decoration ideas. Or if you’re selling food and cookware, a Mother’s Day recipe roundup could be a good way to go.

Final words

Successful events like Mother’s Day can really make a huge difference with your brand. With a bit of planning, you’ll build loyalty for years to come.

Want to learn more about how technology can help improve your restaurant’s customer experience? Chat with one of our experts now.