People Want Gift Cards For The Holidays

According to its 2018 holiday shopping preview, Blackhawk Network expects strong holiday gift card sales led by the dining, movie, sporting goods, beauty supply, and specialty home goods categories. Key trends from the 2018 Holiday Shopping Preview: Top Gift Card Preferences Report include:

• 80% of U.S. adults said they find promotions involving physical gift cards are more influential when it comes to purchasing decisions than other options like bonus dollars, coupons, and digital gift cards
• 82% say they would prefer receiving a gift card or prepaid card over other incentive options like discounts, checks, or merchandise
• 69% of employees said they would like to receive a gift card reward from their employer…but 73% of employees said they’d still prefer a cash incentive
• 66% said they are interested in a gift card personalized for the holidays
• 42% said they use gift cards they receive right away
• 59% said they often spend more than the amount on the gift card
• 15% said they spend more than the amount on the gift card every time
• 63% said they are interested in receiving a gift card in exchange for a returned retail item
• The five gift card categories that were best-selling among U.S. consumers in December 2017: dining (movie and a meal), movie, sporting goods, beauty supply, and specialty home goods.
• According to the National Retail Foundation, nearly two-thirds of consumers returned at least one item this past holiday season and 27% bought items specifically with the intention to return them later.

Read the complete survey here.