Americans to Spend More Than Ever on Gifts for Father's Day in 2019

Americans are expected to spend more than ever on gifts for Father's Day this year, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey conducted by Prosper Insight & Analytics. Total spending for the holiday is estimated to reach $16 billion, up from last year's $15.3 billion. Father's Day spending has grown 70 percent, approximately $6.6 billion, since 2009. The biggest drivers of Father's Day spending are growth in spending by consumers ages 35-44, and spending on clothing, special outings and gift cards. This year, 75.9 percent of people plan to celebrate and are expected to spend a record $138.97, up from last year's $132.82, and up from 91 dollars in 2009.

When searching for the perfect gift:

39 percent of consumers will head to department stores
34 percent will shop online
24 percent will shop at a discount store
23 percent at a specialty store
11 percent at a specialty clothing store
2 percent via catalog

57 percent of smartphone/tablet owners plan to use their device to assist in Father's Day gifting decisions, with 38 percent using their mobile device to research products and compare prices. More than half of those surveyed plan to buy for their fathers or stepfathers (53 percent) while others will shop for their husbands (27 percent) or sons (9 percent) among other dads in their lives.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT FATHER'S DAY

Father's Day is celebrated the third Sunday in June in over 50 countries around the world.
The first Father's Day celebration was said to be on June 19, 1910 in Spokane, Washington.
A woman named Sonora Smart Dodd spearheaded the efforts for fathers to be recognized after hearing a Mother's Day sermon at her church. Dodd's father, a Civil War veteran, had cared for the family after his wife died while giving birth to the couple's sixth child.
Dodd celebrated the first Father's Day by delivering gifts to sick fathers all over Spokane.
Woodrow Wilson wanted to participate in a Father's Day ceremony in 1916 in Spokane, but Congress balked because Father's Day had been the subject of editorial jokes in some newspapers and they didn't want there to be accusations that the president was endorsing a commercial holiday.
Many attempts to make Father's Day an official holiday were shot down.
In 1966, Lyndon Johnson finally made an official proclamation that Father's Day would be recognized on the third Sunday of June.
It wasn't until 1972 that Father's Day became a permanent national holiday. (President Nixon signed it into law.)
Dodd correctly wrote the holiday in plural possessive form (Fathers' Day), because it was "a day belonging to all fathers." Somewhere along the way, the punctuation was changed and the day is widely written as "Father's Day."
There are over 65 million fathers in the United States.
Father's Day is the fourth-largest greeting card occasion of the year