Don’t wait until Black Friday week to get out those holiday emails. Over 40% of consumers have already started their seasonal shopping, according to the Q3 2024 Gift Card Gauge from Fiserv.
Here are their reasons for shopping early:
Of those who haven't started yet, 35% are waiting for holiday shopping events.
Whatever their timing, it should be a reasonably good year: 33% of consumers plan to spend more than they did last year, compared to 27% who planned to spend more in 2022 and 21% in 2022.
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But of the 15% whoo are planning to spend less, 66% blame inflation and higher costs.
Perhaps because of inflation, gift cards are growing in popularity.
Of the consumers polled, 42% plan to buy them to supplement their presents, while 33% will use them to purchase gifts. Another 21% plan to purchase high-value gift cards as a main present.
What attracts consumers to gift cards online? They cite:
In-store, shoppers expect to see gift cards promoted in:
Meanwhile, over 40% will choose retailers where they belong to a loyalty program. And, 52% will use their loyalty points to buy themselves a gift.
Fiserv surveyed over 1,000 U.S. consumers in June 2024 as part of its quarterly Gift Card Gauge.