Dads Enjoy Better-Than-Expected Father's Day

June 18, 2014

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.

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 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, real-time trends across three of the most popular retail categories for Father's Day purchases were reported:

• 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.

Source: Retailing Today