Holiday’s $31B Gift To Payments

The average person buying gift cards will spend $172.74, up from $163.16 last year, the poll found, with total spending is expected to reach $31.74 billion. In a separate survey, 62 percent of shoppers said they would like to receive a gift card, making the prepaid payment cards the most requested gift item eight years in a row.

The survey did not break out traditional plastic gift cards versus digital gift cards.

Shoppers will spend an average of $47.87 per card (up from $45.16 in 2013), with cards from department stores (37 percent), restaurants (34 percent) and coffee shops (20.6 percent) among the most popular choices. In addition, 18.9 percent will give gift cards to electronics stores. while 18.1 percent will give the gift of entertainment, such as a movie-theater gift card.

The survey also found that adults over age 65 will spend the most on gift cards, at an average of $204.59, while those between 18 and 24 will spend the least, an average of $113.75. Men plan to spend significantly more than women on gift cards, at $180.81 and $165.09 respectively.