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Consumers plan to give gift cards this year, but plastic gifts do not hold the same allure as in years past, according to a new report from New York-based consulting firm Deloitte LLP. Deloitte commissioned an undisclosed independent research company to conduct the online survey between Sept. 26 and Oct. 7, in which 66% of 13,276 consumers polled said they planned to buy gift cards this holiday season. This is the fifth year that gift cards were the top gift choice for consumers, Stacy Janiak, Deloitte retail leader, tells CardLine. Despite the high place gift cards hold on shopping lists, however, 59% of respondents said they expect to reduce their holiday spending this year and plan to buy, on average, 21.5 gifts this year compared with 23.1 last year. With the drop in spending on gifts in general comes a drop in spending on gift cards. Last year, 69% of consumers said they planned to buy gift cards. Though three percentage points is not a large drop, it does show that consumers plan to buy fewer cards, Janiak says. "We see two trends here. First, consumers seem to be becoming concerned about the number of unused gift cards they have," Janiak says. "And second, in this economic environment, consumers may be more likely to buy a $50 sweater that's on sale for $30 than a $50 gift card."
