Gift Cards Oust Cash in Gift Giving

American consumers would prefer to give electronic gift cards as gifts over cash or paper gift certificates.

Some 52% of respondents to a recent survey preferred giving gift cards versus 38% who said cash and 11% who indicated gift certificates, according to the fourth annual Consumer Insights Survey commissioned by ValueLink, a gift and spending card services company.

Sixty-six percent of those who bought gift cards gave them as a primary gift and 28% reported including the card with another gift. Respondents (52%) said the cards allow receivers to get what they want, are convenient to purchase (36%) and they don’t have to wrack their brains thinking about a gift to buy (17%).

The study also found that consumers are purchasing more gift cards at higher values since ValueLink started tracking the figures in 2001.

In the last 12 months, 64% of the adult population or about 139 million people purchased or received a gift card compared to 36% in 2001. Twenty-seven percent of those spent the initial value within one week while another 31% used up the card within a month. Some 55% reported spending more than the initial value of the card they received.

"The Christmas holiday is a crucial time of the year for gift cards in the retail world as 56% of respondents cited the occasion for a gift card purchase," said Karen Larsen, VP-product marketing and evolution for ValueLink, in a statement. "An even stronger figure, and one that points toward the year-round appeal of gift cards, 77% of those surveyed said they purchased a gift card to give as a birthday gift."

Nine percent of respondents indicated buying the cards online versus 83% who made the purchase in person with 26% buying the cards from a store that offered multiple retailers and merchants. Overall, consumers ages 45 to 54 spent an average $281 on gift cards during the year while those 65 and older spent $200.

Consumers purchased an average of just under seven gift cards in the last 12 months with an average value of $59 per card, up from four cards at $44 in 2001.

The survey queried 1,006 U.S. adults ages 18 or older in August.