Originally published by Kristina Knight on BizReport.
When it comes to buying gift cards for people on holiday lists, many shoppers like them, but expect the cards to be purchased late in the season.
That’s the takeaway from new CashStar data which indicates nearly 70% of shoppers plan to wait until the last minute to purchase gift cards for friends or family.
“This data reinforces the importance of delivering rich, engaging and useful experiences for both the senders and the recipients of gift cards,” said CashStar President and CEO Ben Kaplan. “Even at the last minute, digital gifting allows givers to create highly personalized gifts with photos, messages and video. People who receive gift cards – both plastic and digital – now have more options than ever for storing their card value on their smartphones in mobile wallets, and in 2016 we expect more retailers to adopt this functionality.”
CashStar’s survey also found that nearly half (40%) say they have lost plastic gift cards and 56% ‘are interested’ in being able to store their cards on their mobile devices, similar to how mobile payment options are stored. Other interesting findings from the report include:
- Western US residents are most interested in mobile gift card options (59%)
- 22% are interested in digital gift card options
- 74% of 18-24 year olds are interested in mobile storage options for gift cards
- Northeastern US residents are most likely to wait until December 23 or 24 to buy gift cards
