We Love to Buy Mom Jewelry, and We Love to Buy Dad Watches

We Love to Buy Mom Jewelry, and We Love to Buy Dad Watches

TRE leveraged its statistical data gathered from 27,000 retail stores throughout the United States to compare typical sales to those two weeks prior to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and determine the top five gifts for Mom and Dad.

The highest sales are not translated into the highest profits, since the top sale categories also have the highest return rate increases following Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. The jewelry return rate almost doubles in the period immediately following Mother’s Day. It changes from a 12.7 percent return rate to a whopping 24 percent return rate; meaning for every $100 in jewelry items purchased for Mother’s Day, $24 was returned.

THE TOP FIVE CATEGORIES FOR MOM

120%100%80%60%40%20%0%

Jewelry WatchesGreeting CardsGiftwrap

Women’sApparel

Health andBeauty Aids

116%68% 45% 34% 34%

Mother’s Day Categories with Highest Increase in Sales

Father’s Day Categories with Highest Increase in Sales

By looking at the data side by side, it can be determined that:

(In fact, jewelry sales increase by 116 percent during the two weeks leading up to Mother’s Day)

% of Sales Increase for the Two Weeks before Mother’s Day vs. Average Sale

120%100%80%60%40%20%0%

Watches JewelryApparel Greeting CardsGiftwrap

Health andBeauty Aids

116% 105%76%

35% 30%

114%

(Sales increased 114 percent the two weeks prior to the holiday)

% of Sales Increase for the Two Weeks before Father’s Day vs. Average Sales

TOP FIVE GIFTS FOR DAD

Mother’s Day Sales IncreaseFather’s Day Sales Increase

120%100%80%60%40%20%0%

Jewelry WatchesGreeting CardsGiftwrap

Health andBeauty Aids

Apparel

116%

76%68%

35% 45%

114%

34% 30% 34%

105%

The tables below show the daily sales volumes for items in the jewelry, greeting cards, and health and beauty products for Mother’s Day and apparel, jewelry, and watches for Father’s Day. In both tables, the peaks can clearly be seen for three weeks prior to the holiday, dropping rapidly afterwards.

Daily Sales Preceding and Following Father’s Day

Days Before Father’s Day Days After Father’s Day

Men’s Apparel

Jewelry

Watches

Father’s Day

Daily Sales Preceding and Following Mother’s Day

Jewelry

Greeting Cards, Giftwrap

Health and Beauty Aids

Days Before Mother’s Day Days After Mother’s DayMother’s Day

Mom and Dad Don’t AlwaysLove What We Buy Them

Mom and Dad Don’t AlwaysLove What We Buy Them

Top five categories having the highestreturn rate increases following Mother’s Day

Jewelry

Greeting cards,Giftwrap

Watches

Health &Beauty Aids

Women’sApparel 27%

43%

47%

64%

89%

20.5%

23.7%

0.5%

16.1%

8.2%11.7%

16.1%

0.3%

12.7% 24%

CATEGORY DESCRIPTION

% of Return Rate Increasing

Return Rate Before (2 weeks Before Mothers’ Day)

Return Rate After (2 weeks After Mothers’ Day)

HAPPYMothe

r’S

DAY

CATEGORY DESCRIPTION

38%

43%

80%

105%

127%

30.4%

26.7%

15.7%

34%

22.7%

22%

18.7%

16.6%

10%Men’s Apparel

Watches

Health &Beauty Aids

Jewelry

Recreation:Health & Exercise Equipment

Top five categories having the highestreturn rate increases following Father’s Day

% of Return Rate Increasing

Return Rate Before (2 weeks Before Fathers’ Day)

Return Rate After (2 weeks After Fathers’ Day)

For Father’s Day the apparel return rate more than doubles from 10 percent to 22.7 percent & the watch items’ return rate almost doubles from 16.6 percent to 34 percent.

David Speights, Ph.D., is the chief data scientist, Adi Raz, MBA, is senior director of data sciences and modeling, and Jason Kuang, Ph.D., is senior statistician for The Retail Equation.

DAD IS EVEN PICKIERIf we compare those top five return rate increasing categories from Mother’s Day and Father’s Day,

we see something else that is interesting:

Dad tends to return our gifts even more than Mom. Men’s apparel return rate is up 127 percent and watches are up 105 percent while Mom’s jewelry is up 89 percent and watches are up only 47 percent. Is it because our Dads are pickier. Or maybe we just don’t know what to buy them?

12

396

8.7%

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THE RETAIL EQUATION SHARES INSIGHTS ON TOP GIFTS AND RETURNS

THE RETAIL EQUATION SHARES INSIGHTS ON TOP GIFTS AND RETURNS