In this post:
- Which businesses make the most money on Father’s Day
- Where do Americans celebrate Father’s Day
- Which states’ retailers do the best on Father’s Day
It’s fun to speculate about where Americans spend the most on Father’s Day weekend. Restaurants? Movie theaters? Butcher shops? Womply analyzed data from the past 12 months from businesses we serve across the U.S. throughout 2019, and the answer to all of the above is, “Yes!”
We expect business during Father’s Day 2020 to lag far behind 2019’s as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but if Mother’s Day was any indication, many local businesses should expect the holiday to bring a comparative surge in business.
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Let’s dive into the figures to learn which types of businesses were busiest during Father’s Day weekend 2019!
Fun with Father: How much money do Golf courses make on Father’s Day?
Father’s Day weekend was huge for golf courses in 2019. The average golf course in our analysis made a staggering 95% more revenue and processed 82% more transactions on the Saturday before Father’s Day compared to an average day, making it their #1 day of the year.
Father’s Day itself was the #4 biggest day of the year, with 78% more revenue and 69% more transactions than a typical day.
Whether this gigantic boost was due to the typically nice weather, kids taking dad to hit the links, or dads feeling free to take the day to do what they really want, we can’t say, but it’s undeniable that golf is one of dads’ preferred ways to spend this holiday.
How golf courses bounce back from COVID-19 remains to be seen, but we expect Father’s Day weekend to drive a lot of golfers back out to the links after months of isolating.
Dining with Dad: how much do supermarkets, butcher shops, and restaurants make on Father’s Day?
Supermarkets and grocery stores: It’s understandable that families gathering for Father’s Day dinners or BBQs spend more that weekend. Womply’s numbers show the Saturday before Father’s Day was huge for these stores, coming in at the #5 consumer spending day of the year, with 41% more total revenue.
Father’s Day itself was the #2 Sunday of the year for grocers and supermarkets, with 18% more revenue and 12% more transactions, and the week of Father’s Day was the #3 week of the entire year.
As we’ve reported earlier, grocery stores and supermarkets experienced huge surges in sales this spring as Americans stocked up on supplies to prepare to shelter in place. As a result, Father’s Day might not top the 2020 charts like it did in 2019, but we still expect restaurants across America to be plenty busy this year as well.
Meat shops and butchers usually see a nice bump for Father’s Day weekend, and Womply’s data confirms Saturday as the #6 day all 2019 at +115% consumer spending and 55% more transaction volume.
Restaurants: The Saturday before Father’s Day was the #3 day of the year for restaurants in 2019. Consumer spending was up 55% more than the average day. Transactions were up +15%, and average ticket was up +20%.
Sunday was no slouch, either, as the #2 Sunday all year, with 42% more consumer spending, 10% greater transactions, and an enormous 33% jump in ticket size (yes, I will have the tomahawk ribeye, thank you).
Again, we expect Father’s Day 2020 to be extremely slow for restaurants when compared to 2019, but it just might be the biggest weekend of the year since the coronavirus outbreak began.
Retail: Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Father’s day weekend isn’t huge for retail generally. Friday came in as the #16 day overall and the 9th biggest Friday; Saturday was the #56 day of the year and the 14th biggest Saturday. However, some categories did really well.
Sporting goods stores saw a nice lift all weekend, with Friday being the #7 day of the year and Saturday being the #6 day of the year. In fact, the week of Father’s Day was the 4th biggest week of the entire year for sporting goods stores.
In which states is Father’s Day the biggest?
For restaurants, California, Maryland (their #2 day of the year for restaurants), Minnesota (#7), New Jersey (#9), and Illinois (#9) performed best on Sunday.
Saturday revenue was hottest in South Carolina (their #1 day of the year for restaurants), Washington, Colorado, Iowa (#2), New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan (#3), California, Oregon, and Virginia (#4).
Supermarkets in Arizona (+95% increase in consumer spending), Arkansas (+91%), Iowa (+86%), Utah (+81%), and Indiana (+76%) performed the best on the Saturday before Father’s day.
As noted above, golf courses make major bank on Father’s Day weekend, with 20 states experiencing a mindblowing increase in average revenue of 90% or better.
For Saturday, Oklahoma golf courses tied for the largest increase in revenue at 270%, but Virginia (+268%), Oregon (+195%), Georgia (+154%), and New Jersey (+154%) also saw gigantic gains.
Average revenue on Father’s Day itself was also huge in several states, with New Jersey taking the prize with a whopping 268% increase. Virginia (+198%), Washington (+148%), Illinois (+141%), and Oregon (+132%) round out the top 5 states for that Sunday.
How to get the most out of Father’s Day as a small business
Do you own a restaurant, golf course, movie theater, grocery store, or other small business? If so, do you see similar gains on Father’s Day to those described above?
It’s clear that Father’s Day drives more customers to supermarkets, grocers, butchers, movie theaters, and golf courses. But there’s a good chance that all of these types of businesses across the country aren’t taking full advantage of the extra business Father’s Day can drive through their doors.
Restaurants and other food stores might consider adding special items to the menu for Father’s Day or run sales specials. Other types of retailers that typically don’t see huge boosts for Father’s day might run special “bring dad in” sales specials also to spread the word and drum up excitement.
Check out our small business marketing success guide and our post detailing the 4 crucial steps to building an effective small business marketing plan for even more ideas and suggestions.
Finally, if you truly want to get the biggest benefit out of these holidays that drive extra customers to your door, you need to make sure you have a way to easily collect customer information to bring those people back over and over again.
Learn out how Womply’s email marketing software can help you build customer loyalty without lifting a finger. Womply helps local businesses like yours earn 20% more revenue and 22% more repeat customers, while saving 10 hours of work per week. Learn more, plus get free reputation monitoring and customer insights when you sign up for Womply Free!