New insights from car sharing marketplace Turo reveal a strong tendency among Brits to delay Mother’s Day preparations until the final hours. From rushed flower orders to googling card messages, many are cutting it close—and not even writing their own words.
Using Google Search Trends from 2024, Turo uncovered some eye-opening patterns in the week leading up to Mother’s Day, as well as a few that are, perhaps, unsurprising.
Procrastination peaks
Mother’s Day in 2024 landed on Sunday, 10 March. Unsurprisingly, Google searches for “flower delivery” peaked just two days before, on 8 March. In fact, searches for flowers more than doubled those for “takeaway near me” that evening, suggesting dinner plans were ditched in favour of last-minute gift scrambling. For some, even this was too early, as “next day flower delivery” hit its highest volume on 9 March.
Gift-related searches, such as “Mother’s Day gifts”, started trending upwards about a week before, reaching their peak on 3 March.
The art of borrowing words
Though many might hope their cards are filled with heartfelt, handwritten sentiments, Google tells another story. Searches for “Mother’s Day poems” were over twice as popular as a staple like “weather near me” during the same period. And when compared to Valentine’s Day, Brits were over three times more likely to search for poetic inspiration for Mum than for their romantic partners.
Searches for “what to write in Mother’s Day card” also reached their height on 9 and 10 March—nearly double the equivalent for Valentine’s Day.
What else was trending?
Unsurprisingly, the week before Mother’s Day also saw a surge in “afternoon tea” searches. “Moonpig” also peaked during this period, cementing its spot as a go-to card destination.
Though the official name is Mothering Sunday, Brits still favour the informal “Mother’s Day”, with searches 50 times more frequent. And confusion reigns globally—with many searching “when is Mother’s Day” not only in March but again ahead of the US version in May.
Meanwhile, searches for Mother’s Day significantly outpace those for Father’s Day—suggesting mums take top priority when it comes to gift-giving.
Rory Brimmer, Director at Turo, commented:
“These trends show that Brits are leaving things to the last minute when it comes to Mother’s Day and often not even writing their own cards. It also indicates that, as a nation, we are struggling to be creative with our gifts and more reliant than ever on convenient options for cards and gift ideas, the majority ending up booking the almost obligatory afternoon tea for Mum!
For those that are looking to truly surprise Mum this year, the gift of renting a car on Turo could be a fantastic way to show your appreciation. There is a wide range of options on the Turo platform, from the exclusive Porsche 911 to the accessible FIAT 500c. Best of all there’s no need to wait around at a rental desk or trek all the way out to an airport to pick up your car, it can arrive outside your door on the same day, ready to whisk your mum away.”
