Read time 2 mins
Author Sophia 🌱
The gift card industry is constantly evolving, making it essential to stay on top of trends and consumer preferences.
Here are three hot gift card trends to be aware of as we step into H2 of 2024.
The most recent GCVA report shows a notable preference shift among gift card buyers towards digital formats, with 33.1% opting for digital gift cards over their physical counterparts.
This represents a significant increase compared to both April 2024 (26.4%) and May 2023 (30.4%), marking the second-highest rate since tracking began in May 2020!
While there will always be a place for physical gift cards, digital is certainly on the rise, and we predict record rates of adoption before the year is out.
Multi-store gift cards, like Tillo's ChoiceLink, have also gained popularity this year. In May 2024, 37.5% of gift card buyers chose multi-store gift cards, up from 33.0% in May 2023. This contrasts with a decline in purchases of single-brand gift cards, which fell from 57.3% in May 2023 to 50.4% in May 2024.
The preference for multi-store cards reflects consumers' desire for flexibility and varied spending options, but will multi-choice reign supreme as we go into peak? Only time will tell, but having a choice is certainly a growing consumer desire, especially in the consumer rewards and incentives sector. This is backed up by findings in our recent white paper, Bridging the Loyalty Gap, which found that less than 5% of consumers want a brand-specific reward or incentive.
Last but not least, with the Cost of Living Crisis continuing into H2 of 2024, the consumer trend of buying gift cards for self-use is here to stay,
May 2024 saw a notable increase in self-use gift card purchases, with 7.3% of consumers buying gift cards for themselves, up from 6.0% in May 2023 and over a fifth (21.2%) of those purchasing gift cards through employee benefits programs.
Self-use gift cards are expected to continue playing a crucial role in 2024, aiding consumers in saving and budgeting, with 43.8% of self-use gift card purchasers using them as a money-management tool.
With one integration to our award-winning plug-and-go API, Tillo gives you access to more than 2,000+ digital gift card brands that your customers love. So whether you’re supercharging your employee benefits packaged, diving into digital rewards, or exploring new and innovative ways to harness the potential of gift card discounts for self-use, we can help you achieve your goals.
To find out more and experience our platform for yourself, contact us today.
Tillo: Gift cards, rewards, and incentives made simple.
