This year, shoppers will skip neckties and celebrate Dad with gifts for his home office or man cave.

As our personal and professional lives grow increasingly digital and tied to our homes, retailers face new seasonal sales opportunities. Retailers whose assortments contain in-demand electronics and home products can drive more e-commerce sales revenue and gain a competitive edge in time for Father’s Day 2021.

According to the NRF, Father’s Day spending is expected to hit $20.1 billion, up 18% from 2020’s total of $17 billion. The vast majority (75%) of Americans plan to celebrate the fathers, husbands and other paternal figures in their life this Father’s Day.

Popular products dads will love

Retailers can inspire Father’s Day shoppers by filling their assortments with in-demand electronics and home products, as these two categories continue to boom.

Consider these recent results related to electronics and home goods:

• Online sales of consumer electronics grew 18% year-over-year in 2020 as more consumers work, shop and enjoy entertainment in the comfort of their homes. 
• To win more sales on Black Friday 2020, certain retailers offered attractive deals and deep discounts on electronics like laptops, mobiles, wearables, USB flash drives, tablets and headphones.
• Home furnishings sales rose 12% year-over-year in 2020 as homebound consumers invested in products for domestic comfort, organization and functional purposes. 
• On Cyber Monday 2020, home merchandise saw bustling sales, as storage items, cabinets and bookcases were among the most competitively priced products in the category.

Since home is the new hub, retailers can plan their assortments to align with this enduring consumer trend to outplay rivals. Optimizing their product mix involves making decisions on the right balance among bestsellers, hot trends, unique products and essential items to gain a competitive advantage.

Grab shoppers’ attention with desirable promotions 

Although shoppers appreciate variety, the abundance of product choices available online can overwhelm consumers. In response, retailers can craft persuasive and timely digital campaigns to help simplify the customer experience.

Digital promotions, including banner ads and search campaigns, can help retailers spark a sense of urgency that motivates shoppers to buy. The key is for retailers to connect to consumers with the right messaging, timing and targeting to earn their attention, trust and sales. Retailers need effective promotions to optimize their ad spend.

Pricing secures the sale

To maximize top line performance, retailers also need to nail their Father’s Day pricing strategies.

Notably, consumption habits and loyalty have dramatically shifted during the pandemic, which has affected retailers’ pricing strategies. Value pricing continues to soar due to economic uncertainty, job losses and a growing desire for value for money. Last year, 30% of consumers switched to a new brand due to better prices, while 25% cited better value as the reason they switched, according to McKinsey & Company. 

On the other side of the socioeconomic spectrum, premium pricing is also on the rise. Upscale shoppers are now more willing to splurge on high quality goods, including home furnishings and electronics. These consumers will pay more for merchandise that adds value or purpose to their lives. In addition, digitally-savvy Gen Z and Millennial consumers are spending 125% as much as they did in 2019. As a result, retailers that capitalize on consumers’ enthusiasm and price elasticity will drive incremental e-commerce revenue gains.

As e-commerce competition intensifies and informed, empowered shoppers know where to find the best prices, more retailers now seek a new pricing approach to stand out, drive sales growth and protect against price wars.

Drive revenue with the right products, promotions and prices 

To win the attention and sales of Father’s Day shoppers, more leading retailers now use data insights to make faster, more effective assortment and pricing decisions that maximize their e-commerce sales.

Data analytics help retailers know which products consumers will actually buy. Leading global retailers rely on Assortment Analytics from DataWeave to ensure their online assortments keep up with evolving consumer needs. Building a competitive product mix can set retailers apart and boost e-commerce sales by offering in-demand merchandise. Assortment analytics give retailers insights on the most popular brands and products on any e-commerce website, and help them spot and fill any assortment gaps to capture more sales.

To captivate online shoppers’ attention, retailers use DataWeave’s Promotional Insights to lower acquisition costs with marketing promotions that resonate. As online shoppers increasingly seek timely offers, these insights help retailers quickly evaluate the effectiveness of their promotions and optimize their digital ad spend. Retailers gain near-real-time insights on the brands, categories and products their rivals promote, including campaign frequency, duration and messaging for promotions that convert.

Major retailers also turn to Pricing Intelligence from DataWeave to promptly adapt to rivals’ online price changes and shifts in consumer demand. Retailers drive more revenue and margin by easily identifying fluctuations in consumer demand and rivals’ pricing, as well as any gaps. Retailers gain an edge by seeing pricing patterns that their rivals miss. They gain accurate exact and similar product matching, and near real-time pricing updates to stay competitive and fuel e-commerce conversions.

Data insights help retailers delight dads

This Father’s Day, retailers can apply data insights to offer consumers eye-catching promotions of in-demand electronics and home products at the right price to wow dads. Insights from DataWeave can help retailers make smart, competitive assortment, promotion and pricing decisions that boost agility, improve the customer experience and drive e-commerce sales for this special occasion – and all year long.