U.S. Gift Card Giving To Hit Record This Christmas, Says NRF

(IDEX Online) – U.S. gift card sales are likely to hit a record in the upcoming holiday season, with total spending expected to reach $31.7 billion and the average person buying gift cards will spend $172.74, up from $163.16 last year, according to the National Retail Federation's (NRF) Gift Card Spending Survey.

In an October NRF survey, 62 percent of shoppers said they wanted to receive a gift card, making gift cards the most requested gift item eight years in a row.

“No longer impersonal or only about convenience, gift cards have become the perfect, practical gift item for millions of holiday shoppers,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.

Total spending on gift cards has increased 83 percent since NRF began tracking consumers’ intentions to buy gift cards as holiday gifts in 2003.

The survey found adults 65+ will spend the most on gift cards at an average of $204.59. Young adults between 18-24 years old will spend the least at an average of $113.75. Additionally, men plan to spend significantly more than women on gift cards ($180.81 vs. $165.09 respectively). 

According to the survey, 37.7 percent of gift card buyers will give a gift card from a department store, and 34 percent will give their friends and family the gift of a meal at a restaurant.