The Retail Gift Card Association reported that in a survey of 1,000 people, 91.4 percent said they plan to give gift cards as gifts within the next three months, though they are careful on how they would spend them.
According to the results, consumers continue to keep their wallets tight – only 30.6 percent of respondents would purchase something they would not normally buy. The rest, 69.4 percent, said they would spend the gift card on something they needed, or put it towards a larger purchase.
The trend echoes research from Mercator Advisory Group’s CustomerMonitor Survey Series, which has consistently shown over the past three years that between 15 and 20 percent of respondents say that they use prepaid cards, including closed-loop cards, to manage their money.
Click here to read more from the Retail Gift Card Association.