With Father’s Day just around the corner, consumers are gearing up to celebrate dad in ways big and small. In fact, the NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics annual Father’s Day survey found that consumers plan to spend $22.4 billion on gifts and other items to celebrate dads this year, just following last year’s record-breaking expected spend of $22.9 billion. Read on for more insights into the trends behind these numbers, including how men approach the holiday versus women and the top gifting trends years as consumers show their appreciation for all of the dads and other father figures in their lives.
While Father’s Day spending is no joke, it still falls well below the $33.5 billion consumers budgeted for Mother’s Day this year. And while there are some key differences between Mother’s and Father’s Day, one thing they both have in common? Men are more likely than women to celebrate both holidays and men also outspend women on both holidays — by quite a lot.
This difference in spend is even more impressive given that women are often buying for more people compared to men. Seventy-nine percent of women shopping for Father's Day are purchasing for both a spouse and a father or stepdad, while men are significantly less likely to be purchasing for a partner for the holiday. However, more doesn’t necessarily mean better. While both genders are most likely to value a gift that is unique or different, the similarities stop there.
Forty-four percent of women say that finding a Father’s Day gift that creates a special memory is most important to them compared to just 35% of men. And 29% of men say it’s most important to find a gift that’s convenient compared to just 20% of women. That might explain why men are also more likely to be giving dad a gift card this year compared to women — there are few items more convenient.
Although clothing is a popular gift item for both holidays, dads are more likely to receive a gift of apparel compared to moms. More than half (54%) of those celebrating Father’s Day plan to gift clothing compared to 43% who opted to give a similar gift to mom. And while some fathers may still be opening a box with a new tie or dress shirt on June 16, there are clothing gift options out there to fit every dad’s style (or lack thereof). If your dad isn’t a monogram type of guy, retailers like Sockologie have him covered with custom socks that can be printed with a picture of his classic grin. And if he needs a full closet refresh, a subscription clothing services like Stitchfix or Stately can outfit him from head to toe.
While some types of gifts — cards, clothes or a special outing — are, like dad himself, a Father’s Day classic, in recent years, shoppers have also been turning to other gift categories to make the holiday special. For example, 31% of those celebrating plan to gift dad a personal care item this year, up from 21% in 2019. Retailers like Aesop, Supply and Harry’s have embraced this trend with products like beard and hair oil or shaving kits. Other categories like home improvement, car accessories, tools and sporting goods and leisure items have also grown in popularity. These gifts are also showing the greatest increase in spending since 2019.
Data on sales from Shopify Merchants in May provides some additional detail on why consumers may be looking to some of these categories for Father’s Day this year. “Our data shows that consumers are gravitating towards gifts based on the recipient’s hobbies and passions,” said Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify. “This might include upgrading their grilling set up or gifting dad some new gear for his favorite outdoor activities like golf, tennis, cycling, fishing or gardening.”
Whatever dad enjoys doing, it’s clear he won’t be disappointed this year. To learn more about the data behind NRF’s Father’s Day trends visit our Father’s Day headquarters.