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« on: December 10, 2008, 10:52:15 PM » |
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WASHINGTON (Nov. 18, 2008) Gift card sales for the 2008 holiday season are expected to decline by more than 5 percent in part because of how that sort of gift is perceived, according to the National Retail Federation.
A study conducted for the group by BIGresearch also found that some shoppers are forgoing gift cards this year to hunt for sale items, while others are worried that the issuing store or restaurant could go bankrupt
The study, which was based on a consumer survey conducted early in November, found that overall gift card sales would fall this year to $24.9 billion, from $26.3 billion in 2007. Gift card sales totaled $24.81 billion in 2006.
About 53.5 percent of those consumers polled said they were planning to purchase gift cards during the 2008 holiday season compared with 56.6 percent last year. At the same time, the average gift card purchaser was expected to spend less this year — $147.33 per person compared with $156.24 last year. Shoppers spent a total of $146.20 in 2006.
This marks the first year that average gift card spending has decreased since the Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey began in 2003.
While 22.7 percent of consumers polled said they planned to buy fewer gift cards because they believed the cards were impersonal, 10.9 percent said they wanted to stretch their budgets by purchasing gifts that were on sale.
“Since gift cards never go on sale, some price-conscious shoppers will be passing up gift cards in favor of holiday bargains,” Tracy Mullin, NRF president and chief executive, said in a statement.
At the same time, 3.1 percent of shoppers said they were cutting back on gift cards because they were afraid that retailers might go out of business.
BIGresearch polled 8,758 consumers for the survey from Nov. 5-11.
The NRF is based here.
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