Today, Father’s Day, is one of the days that retailers pay attention to as a popular occasion for consumer spending.

Yet a survey by the National Retail Federation indicates that families are celebrating dads with “more relationship-and experience-driven gifts,” according to USA Today.

The Father’s Day survey shows that, aside from greeting cards, special family outings are the favorite way to celebrate the day. So say 44 percent of consumers, who planned a family dinner, a sporting event, or other special gathering to allow dad to enjoy quality time with family.

“The nature of the gifts are more personal,” said Boaz Mourad of Insight Strategy Group, a company that has studied fatherhood. “The gifts are less gender-role-driven and more personal to who the dad is and what they really like.”

Retail analysts who study such things even have it figured out how much consumers spend, on average, for Father’s Day.

Most dads would say that is not important. What matters is the relationship that a father enjoys with his family and vice versa. That is the true gift that keeps on giving.

That is why, as the survey shows, many families note the day by doing something together and enjoying each other.

In the words of a popular commercial, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Happy Father’s Day.

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