Mother's Day is gift card season for massage studios

On Tuesday the National Retail Federation published its Mother’s Day survey, and a massage owner should read past the headline. NRF expects a record $38 billion in Mother’s Day spending this year. Gift cards are planned by 55% of shoppers, and a record one-third of consumers plan to give an experience rather than a thing. The survey asked 7,877 adults between April 1 and April 8.

NRF never mentions massage, so the connection is our reading, not theirs. A massage is both a gift card and an experience, and Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, May 10. That leaves a little over two weeks.

Three gift dates set the massage year

Gift buying shapes this trade’s calendar more than weather or school calendars do. These are the three dates that matter, with the most recent NRF figures for each:

• Valentine’s Day. NRF’s January survey expected record spending of $29.1 billion. An evening out ranked among the top gifts at 39%, and of the people not celebrating, 31% still planned to mark the day somehow, with splurging on a gift or self-care among the popular choices.
• Mother’s Day. A record $38 billion, gift cards planned by 55%, and experience gifts at a record one-third.
• The winter holidays. In NRF’s 2024 holiday survey, gift cards were the second most popular category, planned by 44% of shoppers, with expected gift card spending of $28.6 billion and an average of three to four cards per shopper at $51.18 each.

Each of these is a deadline the buyer sets for themselves. NRF was asking shoppers about their Mother’s Day plans in the first week of April, and plans made then are why a campaign that starts in May is late.

What should be live by Sunday, May 3

A week before the day is a sensible target, because the last-minute buyer still needs time to find you, buy and send the card. Check these now:

• A gift card page that sells and delivers by email on a phone, without a call to the front desk.
• That page linked from your Google profile, your booking page and the top of your home page.
• Your license number on the page and on every gift card ad, where your state requires it. Florida’s rule covers any advertisement in any medium, the internet included, and adds the establishment’s address and phone.
• One message to your own client list before any ad runs. People who already book with you are the safest buyers of a gift they can vouch for.
• Photos a careful buyer would trust: the treatment room, a robe and a folded towel, a therapist at work. Not stock images of bare skin.

For the ads themselves, Facebook and Instagram usually suit this job better than search, because few people look up a massage gift card until something puts the idea in their head. Search catches the buyer who already has it.

The rules printed on the card

Regulation E, the federal rule that covers store gift cards, sets a floor that applies in every state:

• Funds may not expire sooner than five years after the card was issued, or after money was last loaded onto it.
• A dormancy, inactivity or service fee is allowed only after a full year with no activity on the card, and no more than one such fee in any calendar month.
• The fee terms have to be disclosed to the buyer.

Some states go further, so check yours as well. The mistake we see is a card printed with “valid for 12 months” because a design template said so. If a stack like that sits by your register, reprint it before May 10, and fix the wording in your online gift card settings at the same time.

Turning a gift recipient into a regular

A gift card brings in someone who did not choose you. Whether they come back depends on that first visit and the two minutes after it.

AMTA’s consumer survey, covering the year to June 2025, found 49% of consumers named health or wellness as the main reason for their last massage and 30% named stress. The same survey found people who get massages averaged 2.7 that year. A recipient who arrived for stress relief is a candidate for a monthly visit; one who came in with a sore shoulder may want a short series. Either way, the conversation has to happen before they leave.

What works at checkout, in the practices we work with:

• Ask whether they would like the next session booked while they are still at the desk.
• Offer the package or membership in person, not in an email a week later.
• Take their own phone number and email, because the buyer’s details are the ones attached to the card.
• Send a review request the same day, to every recipient, with nothing offered in return.

In our experience, many Mother’s Day cards come back in June and July, which are quieter weeks for most practices. A recipient who rebooks in July is worth more to your summer than one more ad.

After Mother’s Day, the rest of the year

• June to August: redeemed cards fill quiet weeks. Rebook every recipient and use the slower days for photos and therapist bios.
• Early November: holiday gift cards go on sale. Check the page, the ads and the card terms again before Black Friday.
• Late January: couples and self-care offers live for Valentine’s Day, aimed first at your own list.

What to do this month

• Put a working gift card page live by May 3 and link it from your Google profile.
• Check every gift card you have printed or sell online for an expiry shorter than five years.
• Send one message to your client list about Mother’s Day gift cards before you pay for any ad.
• Add your license number to every gift card ad and page where your state requires it.
• Write a short checkout script for gift card clients, with a rebooking question and a package offer.

A gift card is a referral the buyer pays for, and the work is making sure the person who receives it books a second time. For how we plan those seasons for a practice, see how we work with massage therapists and studios, and how the rebooking and review follow-ups run in GoHighLevel.