Gift Cards Remain Most Popular Holiday Gift This Year

In 2012, gift cards were surprisingly announced as the top holiday present. This year, things are predicted to stay the same. In fact, the gift card trend is said to further increase.

According to a new research by Bankrate, the majority of people in 2013, will prefer to give and receive gift cards as a holiday present. The study was based on the responses of more than thousand of holiday shoppers. It discovered that most consumers intend to surprise at one person with a gift card during the holidays.

The survey has also found that the most popular gift card value is $25 to $50. A little over half of the respondents prefer to get gift cards for general purpose. More than 33% are those who prefer to get gift cards for stores and restaurants.

When it comes to age, the oldest and the youngest holiday shoppers are those who rarely get gift cards for their friends and family. Consumers aged between 18 and 29, as well as those older than 65, are not big fans of this new practice. In addition, those aged over 65 are also the ones are the least likely to get a gift card for Christmas.

Also, the research found that there is a connection between a person’s income and the gift cards he or she receives and gives. According to the study, the higher the income, the more gift cards we give and receive. Nearly 70% of shoppers who make over $75,000 a year opt for a general-purpose gift card. In addition, full-time workers are more likely to give gift cards (73%) than part-time workers (51%) and non-employed consumers (60%).

Those, who are least likely to get a gift card for the winter holidays are namely people who are non-employed (70%).

According to yet another study, the gift card trend will not simply stay, but it will also increase in 2013. The National Retail Federation’s Gift Card Spending Survey has discovered that holiday shopper will spend 4% more on gift cards this year.

The study also points that the most popular non-general gift cards in 2013 will be those for department stores (40.3%), as well as those for restaurants (34.2%). Nevertheless, almost 20% of people will choose gift cards for coffee stores. This is a 13% jump compared to four years ago. In addition, a little over 20% of holiday shoppers will get gift cards from electronic stores, while nearly 13% will prefer to get them from an online retailer, like Amazon.com.
Despite the rising popularity of gift cards, more than 25% of consumers still believe that this type of holiday present can be quite impersonal.