Americans are expected to spend more on Father’s Day gifts this year and more than a third say they will shop online for the occasion, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) annual survey conducted by Prosper Insight & Analytics.
The survey of 7,591 consumers, conducted May 1-May 9, found total spending on Father’s Day gifts will reach $15.96 billion, up 4.2% from $15.32 billion in 2018. In 2019, 75.9% of consumers surveyed plan to celebrate Father’s Day by purchasing items related to the holiday. Of those, 39% will shop for gifts in department stores and 34% will shop online. Also, 24% will shop at a discount store, 23% at specialty stores, 11% at specialty clothing stores and 2% via a catalog, the survey finds.
Consumers are also expected to spend a record average of $138.97, up from last year’s $132.82 and $91 in 2009. Consumers ages 35-44 plan to spend the most—an average $197.66. Men are also likely to spend more than women for Father’s Day at $160.74, compared with $118.29 for women, NRF found.
NRF also found 57% of smartphone/tablet owners plan to use their devices to assist in Father’s Day gift-buying decisions, with 38% using their mobile devices to research products and compare prices.
More than half of those surveyed plan to buy for their fathers or stepfathers (53%) while others will shop for their husbands (27%) or sons (9%), among other dads in their lives.
Meanwhile, 26.16% of Father’s Day consumers plan to purchase consumer packaged goods (CPG) items, such as personal care products or Dad’s favorite snack, according to a different survey from SmartCommerce, an ecommerce platform for CPG brands. CPGs are mainly the kinds of items—food, beverages, laundry detergent, toothpaste, razors, pet food, etc.—sold in grocery stores.
Other findings of the SmartCommerce survey, conducted on May 7, 2019 among 650 respondents from an online panel, include:
- 30.9% of consumers don’t expect to give a Father’s Day gift to anyone (compared with only 15.1% who did not plan to buy a Mother’s Day gift).
- Among those surveyed by SmartCommerce who oplan to buy a Father’s Day gift, 66.8% plan to buy their gift in the store, 23.2% will order online and have it shipped, while 7.4% will order online and pick up in the store.
- 82.9% of consumers surveyed have bought something online within the last month and 52.3% had done so the same week as the survey.
- 53.0% made their most recent online order on a smartphone, followed by laptop at 22.1%.