Using data from its network of 400 online retailers, Rakuten Marketing highlights the trends brands should be aware of this Father’s Day. Father’s Day is now estimated to be worth £200 million to the UK commerce industry , with year on year trends revealing an increase in gift spend. With retailers witnessing huge peaks on Mother’s Day, Fathers’ Day could soon rival this more traditional event in the retail calendar. As the UK population prepares to celebrate fathers across the nation, Rakuten Marketing releases key trends to help retailers capture this demand for consumers looking to spoil their Dads. Sales are rising, but timing is everything Rakuten Marketing data reveals that we are digging deeper into our pockets to show our appreciation for dads on Father’s Day. Same store sales show an increase of 54% in 2013, building on a 69% increase in 2012. Not only are sales increasing, but data shows that the average order value also increased by 7% in 2013 over 2012. This demonstrates an opportunity for retailers to market a wider range of gifts, including some more expensive items, to browsing shoppers. Sales typically begin rising three weeks before Father’s Day, and peak on the week of Father’s Day itself. This highlights that retailers should be promoting gifts throughout both May and June. Last year, popular purchases included personalised products from gifting marketplaces such as notonthehighstreet.com, as well as technology and gadgets. Kids are demanding good deals Almost a quarter (23%) of Father’s Day sales through the Rakuten Marketing network were driven by voucher sites in 2013, highlighting that our savvy shoppers are still after value for money even when gift-hunting. Loyalty publishers also played a key role, capturing 17% of sales. Blogs and shoppable content sites drove a further 10% of sales, followed by price comparison websites (7%). Tablets are key for conversion While PC’s widely dominate as the shopping device of choice, data shows that tablets actually saw the highest conversion rates in the run up to Father’s Day in 2013. While 3% of consumers engaging with adverts via desktop converted into a sale across the Rakuten Marketing network, 5% of interactions on tablet resulted in sales. In total, sales through tablets were up 101% year on year, accounting for 16% of Fathers’ Day gifts. Commenting on the trend Mark Haviland, MD, Rakuten Marketing Europe said, “Increasingly people are shopping for dads on tablet devices. This is a cue for retailers to ensure that their site is mobile responsive and their apps are transactional where possible. By marketing through content rich and mobile optimised shopping sites, retailers can ensure they are offering consumers a complete multichannel brand experience whilst harnessing the £200 million opportunity Father’s Day offers.”   About Rakuten Marketing Rakuten Marketing provides advertisers and marketers with expert technology and services for affiliate marketing, retargeting, display, mobile, omni-channel attribution, search marketing, lead generation, and automated product feeds. The company is headquartered in New York City and has offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States. As part of Rakuten, one of the world’s leading Internet service companies, Rakuten Marketing includes Rakuten LinkShare the #1 ranked performance marketing network, Rakuten MediaForge, a leader in retargeting and display recognised for its pay-for-performance consumer engagement business model, Rakuten Search a full service search engine marketing company, and Rakuten PopShops, a data analytics engine and product feed and deals content aggregator. Contacts: Megan Mason Hotwire Megan.mason@hotwirepr.com 020 7608 4670