Gift cards are a go-to gift giving option and have been the most requested gift item nine years in a row according to the National Retail Federation, but sometimes people receive gift cards for a retailer that they don’t frequent and the card goes unused. In fact, according to a Blackhawk Network survey, 51 percent of consumers currently have unused gift cards. Many of these shoppers (79 percent) say they have unused gift cards because they either forget about them or received cards for a retailer, restaurant or other merchant that they don’t frequent.
The 2015 U.S. survey of more than 1,100 consumers examined gift card buying and usage behaviors, including their knowledge and acceptance of gift card exchanges—online marketplaces, mobile apps or in-store locations that allow consumers to sell gift cards receiving cash or certain gift cards as tender and/or buy gift cards at a discount.
Some interesting findings included:
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