Research: Consumers Clamor for Gift Cards All Year Long (June 18, 2013)
Gift cards continue to get high marks from consumers who like to buy them and receive them, according to research released today by the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA), a trade association of closed-loop gift card retailers. The survey asked more than 1,000 consumers about their attitudes, behaviors and preferences when giving and receiving retail gift cards; the data also revealed insight into current consumer gifting and spending trends.
More than 91 percent of respondents said they plan to give one to three retail gift cards as gifts in the next three months. Father’s Day was a big gift card day with 29.4 percent of respondents giving dad a gift card to a home improvement store and 10.4 percent choosing a restaurant card. More than 28 percent of respondents plan to give newlyweds a gift card to a home improvement store this summer, which is a higher percentage than spa/leisure, restaurant, retailer or online gift cards, according to the survey. While gift card buyers like giving retail gift cards because they are convenient (50.9 percent) and can be assured recipients can purchase what they prefer (64.3 percent), more than 84 percent of respondents like receiving retail gift cards because they can purchase what they want and 71.3 percent feel very satisfied when they receive a retail gift card as a gift.
“This survey shows that gift cards continue to evolve in terms of their utility for many gifting occasions and they continue to be coveted by recipients,” said RGCA Executive Director Rebekka Rea.
