Father’s Day Spending to Top $14 Billion

Americans are expected to spend $14.3 billion on Father’s Days gifts this year, the highest total in the 13-year history of an annual spending survey sponsored by the National Retail Federation (NRF). On average that comes to $125.92.

Nearly 70% of Americans expect to spend about the same amount as they did last year, while 20% will spend more and about 10% will spend less. More than half of consumers will be buying a gift for their fathers or stepfathers and more than a quarter of spouses will be buying a gift for their husbands.

Department stores are the shopping venue of choice, with 38% of consumers planning to shop in brick-and-mortar stores. Nearly a third of consumers plan to shop online and more than a quarter will hit the discount stores.

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NRF CEO and President Matthew Shay said:

It’s encouraging to see consumers planning to splurge on dads. This increase in spending could be a good sign related to consumers’ willingness to spend more as we head into the second half of the year.

Interestingly, nearly a quarter of shoppers (22%) say they will give a “gift of experience,” such as tickets to a concert or sporting event. About 40% of millennials are planning to give an experience, much higher than older generations, according to the NRF.

The most commonly purchased gift is a greeting card, with about 65% of consumers saying they plan to buy a card. But spending of around $800 million on cards trails far behind special outings such as dinner or brunch ($3.1 billion), clothing ($2 billion) and gift certificates or cards ($1.7 billion).

Just for comparison, Americans spent $21.4 billion for Mother’s Day gifts this year.

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