Is gift-card spending on the decline?[SIZE=-1]
The NRF, which surveyed nearly 9,000 consumers nationwide, estimates that Americans will plunk down $24.9 billion on cards this season, a $1.4 billion drop from last year. Overall, fewer people are expected to purchase gift cards as well ? 53.5 percent of shoppers down from 56.6 percent ? and the average amount they plan to spend on cards has declined, too, from $156.24 in 2007 to $147.33 this year.
The survey found that the biggest gift-card spenders this year will be men, who will spend an average of $156.98 on the cards, and those over age 45, who will spend $168.02.
People are buying fewer cards primarily because they consider them impersonal. Other reasons cited in the survey: Shoppers would rather stretch their dollars by buying merchandise on sale; they?re turned off to cards with expiration dates or added fees; and they simply don?t know which gift card those on their shopping list would want. A smaller percentage of respondents were sour on cards because they?re worried the recipient would lose it or the retailer might go bankrupt.
A similar holiday poll by the Consumer Reports National Research Center revealed that gift cards remain highly popular ? in fact, they?re among the most desired and most-given gifts ? even though we continue to warn folks the onerous fees associated with some cards and the billions of dollars in gift card deposits that are never redeemed. An astonishing finding in our poll was that one-quarter of those who received a gift card in 2007 still haven?t used it. The most common reasons: They didn?t have enough time; forgot about the card; couldn?t find anything they wanted; or the card expired and became worthless.
Related:
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Subscribe now![/SIZE]
Subscribe to [SIZE=-1]ConsumerReports.org[/SIZE] for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. [SIZE=-1]Update your feed preferences[/SIZE]