For 2010, Father’s Day is on track to be a $10 billion dollar retail holiday, a survey by New York-based brand and customer loyalty consultancy Brand Keys, Inc. has found.

“While it’s typical that not quite as much money is spent on fathers as it is on mothers, this year’s average anticipated spend is going to be up 5 percent,” noted Brand Keys president Robert Passikoff. “This year’s survey indicates about the same number of consumers (70 percent) will be celebrating the holiday, and those that are will be spending an average of $115 to recognize Dad.”

The 5,000 consumers polled said that they intended to make the following purchases: gift cards (30 percent), clothing (26 percent), electronics (20 percent), tools/automotive (17 percent), wine/alcohol (5 percent) and DVDs (2 percent).

The biggest change from last year is that 12 percent more consumers said they’d be buying electronics — an indication “that people are feeling more secure about the economy and willing to spend a bit more,” according to Passikoff. Sales of wine and alcohol have experienced a slight dip, but anticipated clothing purchases rose 3 percent.

“Virtually everybody (95 percent) says they’ll be sending a card, either snail-mail or electronic,” said Passikoff, “and about half of the consumers (48 percent — about at the same level as 2009) indicate that they’ll be celebrating with some sort of brunch, lunch or dinner.”

When it comes to the brick-and-mortar stores where consumers plan to do their shopping for Dad, discount stores and specialty stores declined 4 percent and 5 percent, respectively, while department stores increased 10 percent. Beyond the physical store, online spending for the holiday is about even with last year, and catalog sales are down 6 percent.