NRF: Gift Card Use Shifting From Holiday Go-To to Loyalty Tool

Retail gift card usage is slowing down overall, but lately merchants are seeing more reasons to get behind the payment method, notes Stores Magazine’s Lauri Giesen.
 
For example, gift cards can boost consumer loyalty and total spend. First Data’s Mike Hursta says 71 percent of consumers who use a gift card spend more than the card’s initial value, and that customers reloaded their gift cards with an average balance of $211 in 2011, up from $161 in 2010.
 
Gift cards can also help spur mobile payments when digitized, the report says.
 
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