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Jewelry Gift Cards Collecting Dust.
As of the second week in January, shoppers had spent less than half the value of the holiday gift cards they received, forcing companies to encourage consumers to spend them as soon as possible so they can count as a sale, a new National Retail Federation survey reports.
"January and February tend to be slow months for shopping, so retailers will be doing everything possible to bring customers into the stores to spend holiday gift cards," NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin said in a media release. "It is in the retailers' best interest to encourage recipients to spend gift cards before they become lost or misplaced."
Retailers also know that customers redeeming gift cards are likely to spend more than the card's value. According to the survey, conducted by Big Research, half of the consumers who redeemed holiday gift cards said they spent beyond the value of the card to purchase an item.
Gift cards, expected to be a common holiday gift, were even more popular than projected. According to the survey, consumers spent an average of $164.81 on gift cards, up from the $146.20 they expected to spend, resulting in $27.8 billion in holiday gift card sales. Men spent the most on gift cards ($176.84), and young adults, ages 18-24, spent the least ($118.12).
According to the survey, gift cards to department stores (37.9 percent), restaurants (26.8 percent), bookstores (18 percent), electronics stores (16.2 percent) and discounters (14.8 percent) were the most popular to give, and most consumers chose to buy the cards from establishments where the cards could be used. Many shoppers, however, purchased store gift cards from other retailers such as convenience stores and supermarkets. Also, nearly one-fifth (17.7percent) of consumers said they purchased a gift card online.
"As gift cards increase in popularity, retailers are looking for more convenient ways to sell them," Big Research Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. "Many time-strapped holiday shoppers chose to buy several different gift cards at once by purchasing gift cards at supermarkets or convenience stores, which is a trend we expect to continue."
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