Dads enjoy better-than-expected Father’s Day

The National Retail Federation (NRF) had forecast that Father's Day spending would shrink this year, reaching just $12.5 billion. But it looks like the smallest of gift-giving holidays fared better than expected.



According to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, a real-time, cloud-based digital analytics platform, overall U.S. retail online sales for the week leading up to Father's Day — June 9-15 — climbed more than 14% compared to the same period last year.



Some of the key drivers were mobile traffic, which according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, accounted for more than 38% of all online traffic, up more than 26% compared to the same period last year. Mobile sales saw strong growth as well, up more than 37%, reaching nearly 19% of all online sales.



Smartphones drove 24.8% of all online traffic compared to tablets at 12.85, making it the browsing device of choice. When it came to making the sale, tablets drove 12.2% of all online sales while smartphones accounted for nearly half of that at 6.4%. Tablet users also averaged $106.71 per order, versus smartphone users, who averaged $89.55 per order.



As a percentage of total online sales, iOS was almost four and a half times higher than Android, driving 15.2% versus 3.4% for Android. On average, iOS users spent $103.85 per order compared to $73.08 for Android users, a difference of 42%. iOS also led as a component of overall traffic with 25.6% versus 12.3% for Android.



Shoppers referred from Facebook averaged $99.43 per order, versus Pinterest referrals, which drove $142.75 per order. However, Facebook referrals converted sales at a rate more than four times that of Pinterest referrals.



Supporting these overall trends, the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark also reported real-time trends across three of the most popular retail categories for Father's Day purchases:

• Department stores: Father's Day total online sales grew by 30.5% over the same period last year, with mobile sales growing by 29% year over year.


• Home goods: Father's Day total online sales grew by 21.4% over the same period last year, with mobile sales growing by 25% year over year.


• Apparel: Father's Day total online sales grew by 13.5% over the same period last year, with mobile sales growing by more than 42% year over year.

IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark tracks millions of transactions and analyzes terabytes of raw data from approximately 800 retail sites nationwide.