Specialty Store Gift Card Redemptions See Gains

Specialty store gift card redemptions increased 12.3% during the week ended Dec. 13 compared with the same period last year, according to a report from First Data Corp. The Atlanta-based processor based the report on aggregate transaction data from the company’s gift card-processing business. First Data’s specialty retail category includes merchants that sell clothing, electronics, books and sporting goods. First Data suggests the numbers indicate consumers already are redeeming gift cards they received as part of incentive shopping deals. The company did not release specific numbers. The first three weeks of the holiday season have seen the dollar amount of gift card activations increase 1.7% compared with the same period last year. Last week, however, the total dollar value of gift cards activated decreased 1.6% compared with a year ago. The number of gift cards activated also decreased 5.7%. The average gift card amount increased to $30.86 compared with $30.53 last year.