Washington Post: 'Gift Cards Charge to the Top of Holiday Lists'

On December 9, Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary reported that "for the first time since they began circulating in the 1990s, those little plastic gift cards will replace apparel as the top gift," according to the 19th Annual Consumer Survey of Holiday Retail Spending Plans and Trends, commissioned by Deloitte & Touche.

"This year 64 percent of consumers said they intended to buy gift cards, up from 60 percent in 2003, and consumers said they preferred them 2 to 1 over money," wrote Singletary, who also cited the holiday survey conducted by the National Retail Federation in which 50.2 percent of respondents said they would like to receive a gift card.

As previously reported by BTW, NRF projects that total holiday gift card sales will reach $17.24 billion, which would account for nearly 8 percent of all holiday sales. NRF forecast that the average person purchasing a gift card would buy more than three cards, spending a total of more than $100.

For her column, Singletary spoke to Bob Skiba, executive vice president and general manager of Stored Value Systems, one of the nation's leading suppliers of gift cards, who noted that, while many gift card purchases are impulse buys, an increasing number of consumers are shopping with the intention of buying gift cards as a first choice.

To read, the Washington Post article in full, click here.