Although Sunday’s Father’s Day spending is expected to reach $22.4 billion this year, signs that the consumer pinch is impacting even gifting for moms and pops suggests that 2024 will fall short of last year’s record spend.
And there are few signs that will change after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept its key interest rate unchanged and on top of that indicated that it anticipated just one cut before the end of the year.
Markets had been hoping for better news but after their two-day meeting Federal Open Market Committee policymakers also took two rate reductions off the table from the three indicated in March. The Committee also signaled that it believes the long-run interest rate is higher than previously indicated.
New forecasts did show slight optimism that inflation remains on track to revert to the Fed’s 2% goal, allowing for some policy loosening later this year. And retailers will be desperately hoping that the easing helps boost further celebrations such as Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Christmas Holiday season during the vital final quarter of the year.
According to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, Father’s Day 2024 spending will reach the second highest figure in the survey’s history, although with a gloomier financial environment it has dipped a little from last year’s record of $22.9 billion.
However, that’s still over $10 billon behind Mother’s Day, which saw retail sales of $33.5 billion this year, according to NRF and Prosper research. Again, the figure is the second highest in the history of the survey, but as with Father’s Day did not match last year’s record $35.7 billion.
Father’s Day Spending
Half of consumers plan to buy a gift for a father or stepfather, followed by those purchasing gifts for a husband (26%), son (10%), brother (8%), friend (8%) or grandfather (6%). Similar to 2023, three-quarters of consumers plan to celebrate Father’s Day this Sunday.
On average, those shopping for Father’s Day plan to spend $189.81 on gifts and celebrations, just shy of last year’s record of $196.23. Consumers aged 25-34 years old are likely the biggest spenders this year, at an average of $275.67.
Greeting cards are the most popular Father’s Day gifts, with 58% of shoppers planning to purchase one, followed by apparel (54%), a special outing (52%), gift cards (48%) and personal care items (31%).
Over a quarter (27%) of Father’s Day shoppers plan to give a gift of experience, such as sports or concert tickets, down slightly from 29% last year.
Also, 42% of consumers are interested in gifting a product subscription box, up from 34% in 2019 when NRF first started asking the question.
Online Main Channel
Online continues to be the most popular shopping destination for Father’s Day gifts at 42%, broadly in line with 43% last year. Other popular choices include department stores (38%), discount stores (24%), specialty stores (22%) and local/small businesses (19%).
“Father’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate our fathers and paternal role models who have played such a positive role in our lives,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said of the report. “There is no doubt that retailers have the perfect gift consumers want to purchase for the men they wish to recognize on this special day.”
“While spending on these gift categories is mostly in line with last year’s record numbers, they are still significantly above pre-pandemic spending,” Prosper EVP of Strategy Phil Rist added. “This is especially true in clothing, personal care, tools and appliances, electronics, home improvement items, gift cards and special outings, which have all increased by half a billion or more since 2019.”
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