Gift Card Industry Research

Gift Card Purchasing Impact Research

December 2020
The RGCA

The RGCA Insights Committee is currently in the planning process and in need of additional information to guide their decision making.  By gaining a better understanding of how consumer purchasing of gift cards has been impacted, the RGCA can position the organization as the expert with consumer data and provide support to members on what they can expect this holiday season.

See the research results now...  

“BrandedPay™ Holiday 2020 Report: Forecasting a Big Year for Gift Cards”

December 2020
BrandedPay and Blackhawk Network

With analysis of sales data across 50,000 US merchant locations from the last two years—reveals consumers’ current feelings about holiday shopping during these social-distancing days.

Read the full report here...

Online Packaging Research and Packaging/Display Options

December 2020
Iosue Creative

Learn about Iosue's consumer research regarding packaging, which was discussed on the December 3 RGCA Coffee Hour on Holiday Packaging.

Read the full report here...

Unboxing the Gifting Market amid Experience-Driven Retail

December 2020
Coresight Research Sponsored by GiftNow

"In this report, we discuss the key trends impacting the gifting market, highlighting some of the key challenges in the industry. We will also explore Loop Commerce’s Gift Experience Management (GXM) solution GiftNow, which helps retailers leverage omnichannel capabilities to redefine the gifting experience for gift shoppers and recipients alike."

Read the full report here...

COVID-19: Gift Cards During the Holidays

November 2020
InMarket

With COVID-19 at the forefront of everyone’s minds moving into the winter and holiday season, shoppers are beginning to not only think about holiday plans but how gifting will look this year. While plans may be in flux, shopping and gifting seems to be trending much stronger than expected. In fact, as we have observed in InMarket’s survey data, consumers are feeling more optimistic about the economy.

Read the full report here...

Shifting the Focus: Digital Payments and the Path to Financial Inclusion

October 2020
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Payments innovations offer convenience, but they also raise concerns about how they may further exclude a population already marginally attached to the economy.

Read the full white paper here...

Consumer Behavior Before and During COVID

September 2020
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Analyze consumer behavior before and during COVID using data from the Federal Reserve payment surveys

See the presentation here...

Pew Report on Mobile Payments

September 2020
The Pew Trust Foundation

Payments innovation is important not only to ensure the expediency and safety of everyday transactions, but also to speed the delivery of government benefits or funds to those in need, especially during emergencies, such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. As businesses and policymakers seek to promote the development of new payments technologies, the need to also ensure safety and efficiency will present a range of challenges to regulators and traditional financial systems.

See the full report here...

2019 Merchant Gift Card eCommerce Evaluation

June 2020
Blackhawk Network and NAPCO Research

The insights in this full report let you:

  • See 150 merchant scores for over 108 criteria, including the purchasing and recipient experiences, discoverability, B2B offerings and more
  • Compare year-over-year scores to understand areas for improvement in 2020
  • Get benchmark data from other brands, including competitors and additional product categories
  • Explore what top brands are doing and other trends by industry verticals
 
See the full report here...

Annual B2B Program Gift Card Usage Statistics

May 28, 2020
NGC

Findings from its annual national gift card distribution results have been finalized and released by NGC, one of North America's largest card and prepaid technology companies responsible for annually activating over $600 million in gift cards and prepaid products for loyalty, rewards, and employee recognition programs. Physical gift cards remain most popular, but annual growth in digital gift cards increases again, and in particular, during COVID-19 pandemic. See the full report here...

Information on Contactless Payments

May 2020
RGCA and Savvy

In partnership with the RGCA, Savvy has prepared some insights related to contactless payments for discussion at the May 21 RGCA Coffee Hour. See the full report here...

Promotions and the Power of Gift Cards Report

May 2020
Blackhawk Network

"We created this report to help merchants understand the compelling benefits of and best ways of using gift cards in promotions." See the full report here...

Data Essential Coronavirus Reports

April 2020
Dataessential.com

"During this time of change and uncertainty, all Data Essential reports are available for free. These insights may be particularly relevant for restaurant brands." See the full list of reports here...

Card Design Impact Study

September 2019
RGCA Insights Committee and Iosue & Associates

This is an RGCA originated consumer intercept study developed and commissioned by the Insights Committee, and executed by Iosue & Associates. The goal to of the study is to deliver relevant, actionable, original content for the RGCA on the subject of card design impact on purchase behavior for use in the development of design strategy, creative briefs and evaluation of placement opportunities. See the results...

16th Annual U.S. Closed-Loop Prepaid Cards Market Forecasts, 2018–2022

June 19, 2019
C Sue Brown, The Mercator Institute

"Gift cards continue growth, with 2% compound annual growth rate forecasted through 2022. New research from Mercator Advisory Group shows which segments of the U.S. prepaid cards market will grow and which will shrink through 2022." Read more...

Your Branded Currency - 2018 Prepaid Consumer Insight Study

March 4, 2019
Sue Hurley, Firstdata.com

"First Data launches the 2018 U.K. Consumer Insights Study which looks at trends in branded currency and how you might leverage them as part of your gift card strategy." Read more...

Mobile Payments & Fraud: 2018 Report

March 2019
Kount, The Fraud Practice, Braintree

"The shift towards digital economy is fueling the growth of the mobile payments industry and it’s becoming a beacon for fraudsters to attack traditional brick and mortar merchants. In fact, The Mobile Payments and Fraud: 2018 Report stated that detecting fraudulent orders is one of the top three challenges for merchants in the mobile channel." Download the full report.