Retail spend predicted to jump 9% for Father’s Day

Melbourne, Australia - 29 August 2018 - Australia’s independent retailers could see a 9% increase in shopper spending this week leading up to Father’s Day, according to data from leading retail software firm Vend. And, they’re also likely to see a 7% increase in spend this weekend alone, compared to an average shopping weekend.

Vend analysed retail spending and sales trends from the past two years to determine what Australian indies might expect this Father’s Day. Last year, spending increased by 10% in the week leading up to Father’s Day, however overall trends in the data didn’t surface any major increases across the board, indicating that any boost in spending is likely to be similar to previous years.

“Retailers probably won’t see their best-ever sales results for Father’s Day this year. That’s not quite the retail environment we’re in right now. But we can see that Father’s Day consistently brings a decent lift for the majority of our retailers, and we expect that lift to happen again - especially for food and drink, and sports and outdoors stores. Which means dads around the nation can rest-easy, knowing they may receive something other than socks or a tie this Sunday,” says Dave Scheine, country manager for Australia at Vend.

Retail stores that are tipped to see the biggest spending increases this week compared to an average week are speciality food and drink stores (including liquor stores) with a 17% increase, and sports and outdoor stores with a 10% increase. While florists and fashion retailers may see no increase, or even a slight decrease in spending.

According to Vend’s data, discounting levels also tend to be higher in the lead up to Father’s Day, and this trend looks to be increasing. Vend predicts that discounting levels this week will hit levels 8% higher than an average week, as retailers aim to entice shoppers with deals for dad.

Predicted spending increases for the week leading up to Father’s Day, by store type:

1.       Food and drink: +17%

2.       Sports and outdoor: +10%

3.       Home and lifestyle: +5%

4.       Salons and barbers: +3%

5.       Health and beauty: +1%

6.       Florists: 0%

7.       Fashion and apparel: -1%

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About the data

Vend transactional data from a comparable sample of 3,000 retailers, from 1st August - 4th September 2016 and 1st August - 3rd September 2017.

About Vend

Vend is cloud-based point-of-sale and retail management software that lets retailers run their business in-store, online, and on-the-go. Vend’s software includes inventory management, Ecommerce, customer loyalty, and reporting analytics. Vend integrates with other world-leading business and payments applications including Shopify, Square, Xero and PayPal, and is a key retail partner in Apple’s global Mobility Partner Program. Vend is trusted by retailers in over 140 countries and is used in more than 20,000 stores worldwide. Founded in 2010, Vend has offices in Auckland, Melbourne, London, San Francisco and Toronto, and has raised more than A$60 million from top-tier investors. For more information, please visit: http://www.vendhq.com.