NRF: Father’s Day spending to rise slightly

Washington, D.C. -- Americans will spend a little bit more on dad this year, stretching their budgets enough to show their favorite man just how much he is appreciated, according to a survey by the National Retail Foundation.



The group, 2013 Father’s Day spending survey, conducted by BIGinsight, found that the average consumer will shell out $119.84 on dad’s gifts this year, up from $117.14 last year. Total spending for Father’s Day is expected to reach $13.3 billion.

According to the survey, those celebrating Father’s Day will spend $2.5 billion on a special outing, $1.7 billion on a new electronic gadget, and $1.8 billion on clothing.



Dad can also expect plenty of gift cards; families will shell out $1.8 billion on the perfect practical gift. Others will splurge on home improvement and gardening tools ($755 million), sporting goods ($710 million), personal care items ($707 million), and even automotive accessories ($592 million).



Department stores remain the preferred shopping location for gift buyers: four-in-10 (40.6%) will look for dad’s gift there. Others will shop at discount stores (31.5%), specialty stores including greeting card/gift and electronics stores (27.3%), and specialty clothing stores (9.9%). Online retailers will see a slight increase in traffic this year; 29.8% will shop online, up from 28.4% last year.



On the digital front, two-in-five (20.3%) of those who own a tablet plan to use their tablet to make a Father’s Day purchase. Overall, more than half (51.1%) of tablet owners will use their device to research products and compare prices, redeem coupons and look up retailers’ information such as store hours and location. Four-in-10 (42.6%) smartphone owners will use their mobile device to research the perfect gift idea and compare prices and look up store information.