Total US spending related to Father’s Day (Sunday, June 17, 2012) should reach $12.7 billion this year, per a National Retail Federation (NRF) and BIGinsight survey released in June. This figure is up 14.4% from $11.1 billion in 2011, and is driven by a combination of more celebrants and the average celebrant upping spend by 10%, from $106.50 to $117.14. Overall, roughly two-thirds of the respondents said they plan to spend the same amount on Father’s Day this year. That figure is relatively unchanged from previous years, although this year’s 18% who plan to spend more is an uptick from years past, including 2011 (13.6%), 2010 (12.7%), and 2009 (7.9%).
The story is fairly similar for online shopping consumers: according to PriceGrabber survey results also released in June, 70% of these consumers plan to spend the same amount this year. The majority (57%) plan to spend less than $100 on gifts, although about one-third will spend more than $100.
Special Outings to Get Most Spend
This year, total spending on special outings, such as dinner or brunch, will hit $2.36 billion, rising from roughly $2.07 billion last year, per the NRF survey. Consumers will also spend more this year on gifts such as consumer electronics or computer related accessories ($1.74 billion, up from $1.3 billion), clothing ($1.71 billion, up from $1.39 billion), and gift certificates/gift cards ($1.7 billion, up from $1.4 billion).
More Will Shop Online
28.4% of the respondents said they will shop online this year, representing a 28.5% increase from 22.1% last year. This means that shopping online will be as common as shopping at a specialty store, such as an electronics store. The most popular shopping destinations this year remain department stores (41.6%) and discount stores (34%).
For online consumers responding to the PriceGrabber survey, the picture is, predictably, quite different. 56% plan to buy from online stores, compared to 36% who expect to buy their gifts in brick-and-mortar stores. The most popular retail tactic that will influence these buyers to make a purchase is free shipping (59%), a finding that is in line with recent results from a comScore survey, which demonstrated the importance of shipping costs to online customer behavior.
1 in 4 Tablet Owners to Buy On Device
The PriceGrabber survey finds that only 2% of respondents plan to buy their gifts from an online store using a mobile device. According to the NRF results, though, among the 53.8% of respondents who own either a tablet or a smartphone, a significant proportion will be using their devices for shopping-related activities this Father’s Day (54.6% vs. 41.9%). In fact, 1 in 4 tablet owners say they will purchase products on their device, almost double the proportion of smartphone owners who will do so.
Tablet owners are 40.6% more likely than smartphone owners to say they will research products and compare prices using their device (39.1% vs. 26.7%), and 42.7% more likely to redeem coupons (14.7% vs. 10.3%). There is less disparity in their plans to use their devices to look up retailer information (21.2% vs. 18.9%).
Other Findings:
- Male tablet owners are more likely than female tablet owners to say they will purchase products on their devices (29.2% vs. 21.5%). Across age groups, 25-34-year-olds are the most likely to purchase a Father’s Day gift on their tablet (39.6%).
- The majority of consumers will buy for their father or stepfather this holiday (53.9%) but others will treat their husband (29.2%), son (9.7%), brother (6.8%), friend (5.7%), and grandfather (5.3%).
- Compared to Mother’s Day, the average consumer plans to spend 23% less on Father’s Day.
- The most popular gifts planned by the PriceGrabber respondents this year are practical gifts (41%), hobby-related gifts such as sporting equipment (23%), entertainment gifts (21%), and clothing and accessories (21%).
- 40% of those buying for a father this year will use a daily deal site to shop.
About the Data: The NRF 2012 Father’s Day Spending Survey was conducted for NRF by BIGinsight. The poll of 8,789 consumers was conducted from May 2-8, 2012. The PriceGrabber survey was conducted from April 10 to April 23, and includes responses from 4,450 US online shopping consumers.
