Missed! - Mother's Day is coming and shoppers are ready to spend

https://www.dtclive.com/ ** Actionable insights and insider strategies for DTC brands ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Welcome back *|FNAME|*, ------------------------------------------------------------ Mother's Day is 10 days away, and if your inbox isn't already flooded with brand activation plans, it will be tomorrow. But here's the thing: the brands winning right now aren't the ones screaming about discounts. They're the ones getting personalisation right, building genuine community, and creating gifts people actually keep. The playbook has shifted, and the data backs it up. In this edition: * What shoppers actually want & how to make the most of it * How IKEA, Urban Outfitters, and Tesco are nailing Mother's Day * A note on International Women's Day – from us to you * How Expandly helped Forthglade reach German consumers * TikTok's new AI tools and Swanson Health’s platform migration. ** 🎁 Mother's Day 2026: The shift from transaction to meaning ------------------------------------------------------------ https://www.dtclive.com/community-platform ** What shoppers actually want ------------------------------------------------------------ Spending for Mother's Day 2025 hit an estimated £1,673 million, with 59% of consumers purchasing gifts. More importantly, research indicates that 45% of UK consumers prefer gifts with a personal touch (https://store.mintel.com/report/uk-mothers-day-market-report) over generic alternatives. The biggest trend? Personalised wall art, canvas prints, framed photo products and custom home décor. These gifts work because they hit two notes at once: they feel emotionally meaningful, and they're practical enough to keep on display. They become keepsakes, not clutter. Early planners vs. the panic zone UK shoppers split into two groups: those ordering personalised gifts early and the final-week scramble. Research shows a significant chunk leave purchases until the last seven days. That's your high-intent, high-value window if you're ready for them. ** What other brands have done before: ------------------------------------------------------------ The best campaigns aren't pushing hard sells. They're leaning into emotion and authenticity. Here's what's working: IKEA's "Proudly Second Best" (https://youtu.be/GAHxorWeeI4?si=ZO214MtJ9ueGzC9O) (2023) (https://youtu.be/GAHxorWeeI4?si=ZO214MtJ9ueGzC9O) IKEA's approach celebrated parents by acknowledging that no product comes first; parents always do. The campaign shows intimate moments, a baby on a mother’s chest, a father feeding, with IKEA furniture sitting quietly to the side. The subtext: IKEA doesn't compete with motherhood, it supports it. It was not about products; it was about the values mothers hold and how IKEA supports them. Dove Chocolate's "Mom Experience Translator" (https://www.dovechocolate.com/PromiseOfMoms?auHash=kNOLGtNwkJfj6OnjwS70ef9pXJw9ud69lSPlvgIpbEA) https://www.dovechocolate.com/PromiseOfMoms?auHash=kNOLGtNwkJfj6OnjwS70ef9pXJw9ud69lSPlvgIpbEA(2024) Dove Chocolate launched an AI tool that transforms motherhood skills (patience, budgeting, project management, mentoring) into marketable assets for resumes. Over 60% of people with extended employment gaps were women and most of those gaps were due to motherhood. Rather than selling chocolate, Dove solved a real problem: helping mothers re-enter the workforce by reframing their "time off" as valuable experience. It's commerce tied to real impact. The takeaway: Mother's Day isn't just about sentiment, it's about recognising what your customers actually value, solving problems, and being inclusive. ** How to make the most of Mother's Day (10 days out) ------------------------------------------------------------ Make gifting easy, not stressful. Your gift guide should tell a story. Who's this for? What problem does it solve? What memory will it create? Capture the panic buyers. The final-week shoppers are high-intent and high-value if you make checkout frictionless. Shift your messaging away from "browse our guide" and towards "order now for guaranteed delivery." Push digital gift cards and highlight same-day delivery options. Think beyond products. If you sell something that could be an experience, a spa kit, a dinner box, or a subscription, lean into that narrative. Mother's Day is about the feeling, not the thing. If you're in jewellery, beauty, or fragrance, demand is strong. Food, drink & home also perform well. Wall art, canvas prints and soft furnishings offer high perceived value and strong margins while remaining easy to personalise. ** 💜 To the fearless women building in this space ------------------------------------------------------------ This weekend marks International Women's Day. As a female-founded and female-led community, this one always hits close to home for us. We know firsthand that building a brand is incredibly hard. But we also know that building a brand as a woman comes with its own silent, unique weight. So today, we want to take a second to speak directly to the women in our community. To the founders, the CMOs, the operators, and the builders. To the ones making decisions in rooms that don't always make space for you. The ones building teams and cultures you actually want to work in. You have said no to mediocre growth and yes to building brands with integrity. Sometimes, this industry can feel like pure competition. But watching you build, pivot, and support one another is exactly why DTC Live exists. What you're building matters. Not just because of the revenue or the growth metrics, but because you are defining success on your own terms. You belong in this space. Thank you for building it with us. To celebrate that, we are running a Charity initiative this week. Join our Slack community (https://2aahovc9gzu.typeform.com/to/irKeSTwP) and shout out your favourite female-founded brand. For every nomination, we are donating £10 to Smart Works to help other women get back into the workforce - Rebecca & the DTC Live Team ** Scaling into New Markets: How Expandly Helped Forthglade Reach German Consumers ------------------------------------------------------------ https://www.expandly.com/dtc-live-2026-newsletter-q1/ For most thriving DTC brands, the decision to expand internationally isn't the hard part. It's not demand that holds back global growth; it's everything that changes the moment you cross a border. ** Where expansion gets complicated ------------------------------------------------------------ Forthglade, a well-established UK pet food brand, was ready to expand into the EU. Commercially, the move made sense: strong domestic traction, proven demand, and a clear opportunity in Germany. But European expansion isn't simply a channel decision. It introduces EU VAT registrations, country-specific labelling and packaging requirements, Responsible Person obligations, customs documentation, and warehousing considerations. Each one directly impacts launch timelines, landed cost, cash flow, and customer experience. This is where many DTC brands discover the difference between launching internationally and scaling internationally. ** The Shift: From Reactive to Structured ------------------------------------------------------------ With Forthglade, the approach changed. Instead of solving issues as they appeared, the expansion was structured before scale began. * VAT and regulatory requirements were mapped upfront * Labelling and compliance standards were aligned to EU expectations * Warehousing and customs flows were organised early to reduce friction and avoid costly delays Expansion moved from uncertain to predictable. ** What this means for DTC brands ------------------------------------------------------------ The result is a controlled launch into new Amazon territories and, more importantly, a solid foundation that supports continued EU growth without operational fragility. At Expandly (https://expandly.com/end-to-end-software/) , this is the pattern they see repeatedly: when compliance, shipping, and customs are treated as strategic infrastructure rather than afterthoughts, international growth becomes faster, cleaner, and more margin-protective. See how Forthglade scaled internationally with a compliance-first approach: View the expansion story! (https://www.expandly.com/dtc-live-2026-newsletter-q1/) ** In other news… ------------------------------------------------------------ * TikTok Shop has released new seller tools, including expanded access to the Seller Assistant AI chatbot. It offers instant answers, performance insights, and personalised recommendations. Other new features include auto-approval for product samples, Creator Picks for collaboration recommendations, and automated clip generation from live-streams. These tools aim to simplify seller operations and boost creator engagement, lowering the barrier to entry for brands still figuring out their TikTok Shop strategy. * Swanson Health migrates to Shopify + Ordergroove for personalised subscriptions. In early February 2026, Swanson Health overhauled its eCommerce and subscription stack by migrating to Shopify and Ordergroove, replacing legacy in-house systems. What this signals: The era of building custom infrastructure is fading. Even brands that previously built their own systems are now consolidating onto modern platforms with built-in personalisation and subscription capabilities. If you've been holding off on a platform migration, watch how mature brands are solving this. https://www.linkedin.com/in/himani-agrawal06/ See you next Thursday, Himani The DTC Live Team https://www.brightpearl.com/ ** #1 Retail Operating System ------------------------------------------------------------ Multi-channel merchants and wholesalers turn to Brightpearl to streamline operations, boost efficiency and stay ahead in a fast-changing retail landscape. 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