Will Santa place grocery gift cards under the Christmas tree this year?
Gift cards have become an easy answer for people when shopping at the bookstore, the toy store and even Amazon’s “everything store” who want to avoid sticking a gift recipient with an item they have to return. Now thanks to this year’s inflationary economy, the gift card that is most appreciated might be the one from the grocery store.
Forty-three percent of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 would rather receive a gift card for necessities like groceries than for something indulgent, according to a new survey from Givex reported on by Winsight Grocery Business.
As this is the first year Givex has done the survey, it does not allow for year-over-year comparisons. The findings could, however, still inform strategies around the placement and promotion of gift cards in stores and online.
Some of the study’s other noteworthy findings about gift card purchasing behavior for this holiday season:
- Fifty-one percent of respondents said that they planned to spend more than $100 dollars on gift cards this year, and 87 percent said they plan to spend some money on them;
- Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they would be more willing to buy a gift card with a special promotion, like a discount or a free gift card with a purchase;
- Forty-four percent of respondents said they would most prefer retail or restaurant gift cards, and 71 percent said they would most prefer open-ended credit card gift cards.
A new survey from InMarket found that 67 percent of its respondents planned to purchase a gift card in 2022 ahead of the holidays. Todd Morris, co-CEO of InMarket, said that the flexibility of gift cards helps customers ease the sting of rising prices in an inflationary economy.
Gift cards in general have been the most requested holiday gift for 15 years running as of a National Retail Federation (NRF) survey from last year. In fact, in 2021 they experienced a slight year-over-year increase in popularity, with 56 percent of respondents wanting one as a present, up from 54 percent in 2020.