The NRF Predicts Spending for Gift Cards Will Rise Slightly in 2017’s Holiday Season

The average holiday shopper will purchase four gift cards this year, and spending volume on them will rise slightly over last year, according to results of a new survey conducted for the National Retail Federation.

Based on reports from 7,439 consumers about their holiday shopping plans, the Washington, D.C.-based NRF predicts that total spending on gift cards this year will reach $27.6 billion versus an estimated $27.5 billion in 2016.

Perennial favorites during the holidays, gift cards rank behind only clothing as the most popular gift, according to the NRF. Last year’s survey predicted holiday shoppers would buy an average of 3.4 gift cards.

The most popular gift cards include those for restaurants, purchased by 36% of buyers; department stores, 33%; Visa/Mastercard/American Express cards, 24%; coffee shops, 21%, and entertainment, 18%, the merchant trade group said in a news release.

The survey was conducted Oct. 31 to Nov. 7 by Worthington, Ohio-based market-research firm Prosper Insights & Analytics. The findings have a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

In other payment-related findings, credit cards are being used by 40% of shoppers this season, up from 39% last year, according to the NRF. Debit cards also are being used by 40% of shoppers, the same as last year. Eighteen percent of respondents said they plan to pay with cash, and only 2% will use checks.

Among e-commerce and emerging payment methods, PayPal will be used by 36% of shoppers compared with Apple Pay, 7%; Samsung Pay and Google Wallet, 4% each, and PayPal-owned Venmo, 3%, according to the NRF. Although Venmo is primarily a person-to-person payments service, PayPal Holdings Inc. last month announced that up to 2 million of its merchants can now accept Venmo for purchases in-app or on the mobile Web.