Mother's Day Outsells Father's

Britons bought nearly 24 million Mother's Day gifts and only 10 million for Father's Day last year, according to research by TNS GiftTrak. There is a similar ratio between the amounts spent, with the average Father's Day gift costing just fractionally more.

Gifts valued at £294 million were purchased for Mother's Day last year compared to less than £127 million for Father's Day. The volume of gifts purchased for Mother's Day increased by almost four per cent between 2001 and 2002. In the same period, the number of Father's Day gifts declined by almost 4.5 per cent.

The behaviour of sons is perhaps the main factor in this difference. Mother's Day is one of those few occasions - along with Valentine's Day - when men purchase a significant proportion of gifts given. Men account for nearly half (48 per cent) of all presents purchased for Mother's Day. In contrast, less than a third (32 per cent) of Father's Day gifts are purchased by men. Men and women aged between 25-44 years account for almost three-quarters of all Father's Day presents purchased (26 per cent men versus 47 per cent women) with men aged over 45 years buying just two per cent of gifts - presumably bad news for manufacturers of pipes and slippers.

One consolation for fathers is that they tend to receive slightly more expensive gifts than mothers, costing on average £13.40 compared to £12.60 for Mother's Day presents. Clothes (19 per cent), confectionery (14 per cent) and alcoholic drinks (11 per cent) are the most popular Father's Day gifts, whereas flowers, pots and plants are the primary presents for mums (34 per cent of gifts). Confectionery (18 per cent) and decorative household items (11 per cent) are also popular.

Alex Seron, Senior Research Executive at TNS commented: 'Mother's Day is the second most important gift event in the calendar after Christmas and continues to enjoy steady growth. Yet gift giving for Father's Day is currently in decline and may be seen as a lower gift priority than events such as birthdays or Valentine's Day'.

According to Seron, gift manufacturers and retailers trying to reverse the trend will be pinning some of their hopes on innovations targeting male consumers such as 'Father & Son' joint experience / activity gifts. 'It will be interesting to see how these new additions influence gift sales for Father's Day in 2003'.

GiftTrak, TNS's continuous gift purchasing survey, conducts interviews with a representative sample of 50,000 respondents aged 16 years and over per year. It records detailed information on gift purchasing including average spend, retail outlet, method of purchase and gift occasion. For further information see www.tns-global.com

In case you missed the hype so far, Father's Day 2003 is on 15th June - that's a week and a half's time. For online present ideas both wacky and traditional go to www.google.com and search for 'Father's Day 2003' then look at the ads on the right - there are plenty. Alternatively, save money by just printing this article and showing it to your Dad on 15th with the words 'I may be mean, but I'm statistically normal'. Good luck.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

• Kantar TNS
• All news
• MrWeb info