Australians are set to splurge close to $800 million on Father’s Day, but dads are still getting short changed compared with mums, research from the National Retail Association has shown.
NRA Chief Executive Officer Dominique Lamb said Mums were spoiled with an average spend of $70.40 on Mother’s Day, compared with the $51.60 average spend on Father’s Day.
Despite this difference, retail sales for Father’s Day have steadily grown in recent years, Ms Lamb said.
“In the lead up to Father’s Day in 2015, we saw a growth in national sales of over 2%, and we expect this trend to continue in 2016.
“In recent years, national sales for Father’s Day have grown from $701.1 million in 2012 to more than $768 million in 2015.
“We are predicting total national sales for Father’s Day to exceed $783 million, an increase of $15 million on the 2015 figure.
“As usual, items such as tools, hardware and electronic gifts rank high up on the gift list, with these items traditionally accounting for more than 20% of all Father’s Day expenditure.
“Other items that are expected to be high on the gift list include personal care items such as aftershave, followed closely by premium quality footwear and clothing.
“However, it is not only retail goods that take up a large portion of Father’s Day spending. Similar to Mother’s Day, we are expecting cafes and restaurants to be packed to the rafters, with dining commanding the greatest proportion of consumer spending.”
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The NRA is Australia’s largest and most diverse retail industry organisation, and has been representing the interests of the retail, fast food and broader service sector for almost 100 years.
Dominique Lamb is available for interviews. Contact the NRA media unit on (07) 3240 0163