Find the best credit card offers online.Gift cards have always been popular among American consumers and, this year, it remains as the number one most requested gift for the holiday season. However,a survey by retail organization National Retail Federation and BIGresearch says that, this year, shoppers in the U.S. are going to be pulling back from buying gift cards for gifts. The reason will primarily be due to the weak economy.
NRF and BIGresearch’s survey took a poll of 8,892 American consumers from November 2 to November 10. The survey’s margin of error is at plus or minus one percentage point.
The survey shows that American consumer spending for gift cards this year will average at $139.91. That figure shows a drop of 5% compared to last year’s figure which was at $147.33. The average for gift card spending just two years earlier was at $156.24. The overall consumer spending on gift cards this year is expected to be at $23.63 billion. A drop from the $24.92 billion gift card spending of last year.
Kathy Grannis, NRF spokeswoman said, “ The drop could be attributed to the fact that a lot of people, especially in this economy, are more interested in getting two gifts for the price of one gift card, because so many gifts are on sale”.
Aside from reduced gift card buying among consumers, consumers who receive gift cards this year can also expect to get lower amounts available on their gift cards. The average gift card value this year will be at $39.80%. This is lower by 1.8% from last year’s average.
According to the survey, the percentage of American consumers who will buy a gift card this year will be at 77.2%, similar to last year. The survey also found that gift cards from department stores will be the most popular among consumers, with 38.4% of the surveyed American consumers saying they will opt for them. Restaurant gift cards follow a close second at 33.4% and bookstore gift cards are at 24.4%. Electronic store gift cards come second to the last at 18.8% and discount store gift cards are last at 16.3%. 22.1% of the respondents also said that they will be giving gift cards from credit cards or banks.
A different survey done by the NRF showed that, for 22.1% of the respondents, the main reason why they are not going to be giving gift cards this year is because these gifts are too impersonal for them. 13% said that they will not give gift cards because they are worried over the expiration dates or the fees that comes with gift cards.
