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Gift cards are climbing in popularity among holiday shoppers, but one-fourth of gift card recipients have not used last year's cards, according to a Consumers Union Consumer Reports survey released this week. The Yonkers, N.Y.-based consumer-research company says a telephone survey of 1,001 adults conducted Oct. 16 to 19 revealed that 66% of respondents plan to buy gift cards for others this year, up from 62% who said so last year. But 25% of those who received gift cards last year have not used one or more of them, according to the survey. Among consumers with unredeemed gift cards from last season, 57% have two or more. Fifty-four percent of consumers said a lack of time is the top reason they have not yet redeemed gift cards, while 38% said they forgot about their gift card and 35% were unable to find anything they wanted. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said the store associated with the gift card was not in a convenient location, 9% said they lost their gift card, 8% said it expired, and 3% said the store went out of business. Some 58% of consumers said they typically spend more than amount on the gift card when they go shopping to redeem gift cards, 22% spend the exact amount and 17% spend less than the value of the card. Overall, clothing is the most popular item on this year's gift lists, as 69% of survey respondents say they plan to buy apparel for others, while 62% will buy toys and 61% will give cash or money.
