Forget the flowers. Moms appreciate electronics gizmos as much as dads, according to newly released retail data.
Consumers spent significantly more on gadgets for mom this year than they did last year, approaching the same levels for dad, market researcher The NPD Group Inc. found in a comparison of electronics sales from the weeks preceding Mother's Day and Father's Day.
Specifically, consumers spent more than $865 million in the week before the Mother's Day, up 9 percent from last year's $791 million. Spending for the week before Father's Day was about $873 million, up 3 percent from last year's $846 million.
Some of the hot items for Mother's Day: digital cameras, which increased 27 percent in unit sales this year; portable music players, which jumped 40 percent; and satellite navigation systems, which shot up more than fourfold.
"Those used to be gadgety playthings for dad, but what this (data) shows is that electronics are must-haves now," said Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis. "So they're becoming better products for gift-giving for all mainstream consumers, and that means moms, too."