GiftCard Partners Blog

Special thanks to Jim Schulz of Travel Tags, Inc. and Rich Olson of Optimum Card Solutions, LLC, who generously shared their insights and experiences for this blog post. Your valuable contributions have enriched the content and provided readers with a deeper understanding of the subject matter. 

The Home Depot®’s Eco Options program features several ways consumers can “go green” on Earth Day by using environmentally friendly and cost-efficient products. 

It all started with paper gift certificates. These certificates were given to employees, customers, and partners for meeting goals, recognition on a job well-done, or just as a simple thank you. Gift certificates were often mailed and could take weeks to reach their recipients.

Over 3,300 U.S. consumers over the age of 18 were surveyed for this year’s
Consumer Insights Study from
First Data. The Consumer Insights study provides a comprehensive gift card insights on consumer usage. This year’s study shows how vital gift card programs are to a retailer’s marketing strategy. The popularity of online shopping and usage of mobile wallets have been embraced by consumers, as the desire grows for faster and more personalized shopping experiences.

This year holiday gift card spending on both plastic and digital gift cards will top all previous records with sales expecting to reach over $31 billion!  Gift cards have shed their reputation of being impersonal and have emerged as the perfect practical gift item for millions of holiday shoppers and are the most requested holiday gift for the 8th year in a row. Shoppers are expected to spend an average of $47.87 a card, up 6% over last year.  Since the
National Retail Federation began tracking customers holiday purchasing intentions in 2003, the total spend on gift cards has increased 83%. “Consumers young and old want to find the best way possible to create a happy holiday experience for their loved ones, and gift cards are a great option every time.”  Gift cards are a go-to gift for consumers of all ages; adults 65+ will spend the most on gift cards, while young adults will spend the least.  In addition, men will spend almost 10% more than women on gift card purchases. The following charts provide more insight into the 2014 NRF survey results, check out more
here.
About the Survey The NRF 2014 Gift Card Spending Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey polled 6,593 consumers and was conducted for NRF by Prosper Insights & Analytics, November 3-10, 2014. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.