UK Consumers spend half as much on Father’s Day than on Mother’s

London Things are not looking very bright for fathers this upcoming Father’s Day, as data indicates UK consumers spend half as much for Father’s Day as they do on Mother’s Day. This, combined with weakening consumer confidence, uncertainty in the economy means that Father’s Day 2017 spend on gifts, cards and food predicted to grow only 3.7 million pounds to 695.3 million according to GlobalData.

At first glance this may seem like a substantial increase - however, this growth is set to be predominantly driven by inflation which was at a four-year high of 2.9 percent last month. In addition, as Father’s Day is seen as less important than Mother’s Day, consumers across the country will be less likely to spend more on gifts, food and cards in spite of retailers best marketing efforts. In 2016, the proportion of UK consumers which ranked Father’s Day as less important than Mother’s Day increased 15.6 points, with 24.5 percent of the shoppers surveyed agreeing with the statement. Now spend on Mother’s Day in 2017 is valued at almost 1.4 billion pounds, in comparison to the 700 million pound spend predicted for Father’s Day 2017.

“As consumers’ disposable incomes become squeezed due to real wage declines, consumers will be more reluctant to allocate discretionary spend on occasions which are considered less important, therefore driving a volume decline in the market,” commented Eleanor Parr, retail analyst at GlobalData. “Father’s Day spending will become a victim of this trend, with the slight increase in spend driven prominently by increased prices rather than shoppers willingness to upgrade their Father’s Day gift purchases this year.”

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