More Spent On Mother's Day Than Father's Day

More Spent On Mother's Day Than Father's Day

New Zealand families spend much more money on mothers than fathers, with Mother's Day now the second largest single-day event in the retail calendar behind Christmas, while Father's Day barely features, according to an Auckland retail advocate.

A survey conducted by the Newmarket Business Association in 2007 showed that just two percent of respondents spend more on Father's Day. 52 percent said they spent more on Mother's Day, while 46 per cent said they spent about the same.

"The gap has probably only widened since then. Mother's Day is only getting bigger and bigger. People seem to splash out on mum but when it comes to dad, it's a pair of socks or a lotto ticket if they're lucky. Some will say that's fair enough. However I would argue with the modern-day dads increasingly involved in their children's lives, they deserve to be spoiled too," says Cameron Brewer, chief executive of the Newmarket Business Association.

"Mother's Day is a real highlight on the retail calendar, surpassing Valentines Day, with Father's Day sadly about 25 years behind."

Mr Brewer says Mother's Day is particularly big this year with the country's retailers having seemingly thrown everything at promoting it in recent weeks.

"Mother's Day advertising is particularly prevalent this year. It seems more and more retailers have got on the bandwagon this year. Overall retailers have had a pretty challenging summer and autumn and so Mother’s Day is a great hook to incentivise consumer spending.”

Mr Brewer says advertising activity around Mother’s Day also seemed to start earlier this year

“Mother’s Day promotions don’t traditionally begin until Easter is out of the way. With a reasonably early Easter this year, we’ve subsequently seen Mother’s Day being promoted for some weeks now.

“Given the fall in media companies' advertising revenues in the past year or two, advertising reps have had to get very proactive, and package together some great Mother’s Day advertising deals for retailers. Subsequently, we’re seeing more independent and smaller retailers promoting Mother’s Day this year, as well as the usual big format retailers driving it.

“Ironically it seems Mother’s Day is made bigger when the economy is sluggish, rather than when it’s roaring along. The question now remains as to whether retailers have been able to convert their advertising spend into customer spend,” says Cameron Brewer.

Ends

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