Your Customers Want Gift Cards for the Holidays. Why Not Advertise Them?

When was the last time you saw a major retailer advertising gift cards as a great holiday present? You probably had to think about that one. Giving someone a gift card for Christmas or Hanukkah, after all, is seen as a cop-out or even a social faux-pas.

Plus, gift cards don’t have the physical gravitas of a gorgeously wrapped present. We live in a post-Instagram world, where the social urge for visual content is nearly omnipresent. It’s not a coincidence that unboxing videos and shopping hauls – turning the act of shopping and gifting into a visual phenomenon – have become entertainment genres unto themselves. This adds to the pressure that encourages the ideation of the perfect gift. After all, what are the holidays without gifts of extreme thought, effort, and cost?

But what if gift cards were the perfect gift? What if the need for perfection has never been as prevalent as we thought?

Let’s talk about why gift cards can be an utter game-changer for holiday shoppers – and why you, as an advertiser, should think differently about marketing them.

They’re the Most-Requested Holiday Gift

The National Retail Federation reports the following:

Gift cards remain the most popular item on consumers’ wish lists, with 53% of shoppers requesting them this year. That is followed by clothing and accessories (49%), books and other media (28%) and personal care or beauty items (25%).

There are two key issues to consider here. The first is that gift cards were the only gift category to surpass the 50% mark for popularity. The majority of consumers want gift cards. No other category can say that.

The second is that this should help relieve social pressure. The perfect gift doesn’t need to be elaborate or complicated or stress-inducing. It can simply be the power of individual choice, all delivered via a wallet-sized piece of plastic.

It Creates Relief for Your Consumers

Gift card purchases also lean into consumer desires for convenient shopping. According to the NRF, 57% of shoppers will be making their purchases online. This is the number one category, followed by other shopping outlets that promote convenience

Furthermore, per Shopify, 49% of consumers prefer to do all their shopping in December. It’s likely that retailers who can offer quick solutions – especially solutions that don’t rely on overtaxed shipping companies – will attract more interested buyers.

Gift cards make holiday shopping both quick and convenient for your consumers. All you need to do is heavy up on your gift card messaging.

It Creates Additional Revenue for Your Brand

In 2023, $23 billion worth of unused balances were left on gift cards across the country. That’s revenue that requires no additional labor or production costs, with the exception of the printing of the gift card itself. But even this can be mitigated with digital offerings.

The case for gift cards is a deceptively simple one. It’s the most-requested gift, it creates a consumer solution for last-minute shoppers, and it can create a low-cost stream of significant revenue.

How Can Your Brand Benefit?

The twin drivers for your success in this strategy are visibility and opportunity. For both, consider one of our ShopX units. These offer the opportunity to add a product – including, potentially, a gift card – to a user’s shopping cart directly from an ad experience. This collapses the funnel and blends an Awareness strategy with an opportunity for Conversion. It also gives consumers the freedom to purchase the most popular holiday gift even microseconds before a holiday starts.

Give your customers the ease and convenience of a gift they truly want. The answer is – and has always been – gift cards.

Curious about more ways to advertise to last-minute holiday shoppers? Reach out to Infillion today.