Gift Card Kiosk News
Update September 19 —
- Blackhawk eBook “2024 Could be a Shockingly Normal Year for 2024”
- Blackhawk eBook ” The State of Gift Card Fraud 2024”
- View recent webinar Sept 2024
The 7th annual comprehensive benchmark report of 100 U.S. merchants’ digital gift card offerings across 135+ criteria is here.
Conducted by NAPCO Research in partnership with Blackhawk Network (BHN)—a gift card pioneer and global industry leader—this report is packed with actionable insights and other information you can use to improve your gift card program right now, including:
• The many benefits of an effective gift card program
• Insights into what the nation’s top merchants are doing
• What to look for in your own program (or to include in your new program)
digital gift card exchange
For the seventh consecutive year, NAPCO Research and Blackhawk Network (BHN) have collaborated to produce their market-leading report on the gift card industry. This in-depth, comprehensive benchmark study offers readers the following
• A thorough assessment of 100 U.S. merchants’ e-commerce gift card programs, including the purchaser and recipient experience for both digital and physical cards of the brands’ own gift card, based upon 135 unique criteria;
• Best practices that can be implemented within your own company’s gift card program;
• Benchmark data to compare the performance of your own gift card program vs. direct competitors and the industry at large; and
• The opportunity to learn about new and innovative approaches to optimize gift card performance.
Tap Into Gift Cards for Major Revenue Potential
The U.S. gift card market is forecasted to produce a CAGR +6% during 2024-2028, reaching a value of $267.3 billion by 2028
. In addition, digital gift cards are expected to record a CAGR of +8% during 2024-2028, reaching $115.3 billion by 2028. Digital gift cards are forecasted to account for nearly 43% of total gift card spending by 2028.
Furthermore, gift cards were the No. 1 most requested gift for the 2023 holiday season, marking the 17th consecutive year it has been atop consumers’ holiday wish lists2. Total gift card spending was expected to reach $29.3 billion for the 2023 holiday season, up from $28.6 billion in 2022, with the top card categories forecasted to be restaurant (30%), bank-issued (26%) and department store (26%).
With this data in mind, merchants should be seeking to capitalize on growing consumer demand for gift cards by optimizing their programs for success. That includes catering to the wants and needs of multiple types of gift card purchasers (e.g., gift-givers, self-use buyers, bulk business buyers) and recipients (e.g., gift recipients, customers receiving refunds, reward and returns recipients). To help them do that, this report contains best practices and real-world examples from merchants’ gift card programs that can be implemented by all.
What’s New This Year
1. A customer loyalty trend synopsis, including actionable tips for integrating loyalty and gift card programs.
2. New verticals were added to the benchmark assessment, including entertainment, gaming, online services, and travel.
3. Scoring broken out by brand-only gift card programs as well as those that sell gift cards from multiple brands (i.e., gift card mall).
eBook: 2024 Could Be a Shockingly Normal Year for Gift Cards
U.S. shopper attitudes toward gift cards
After so many years of economic confusion and anxiety, how do shoppers across the U.S. feel about gift cards in 2024? How will they buy them, how many will they buy and how will they use them?
More importantly, how will all this affect the way you manage your gift card program?
BHN commissioned a global study of shoppers in 23 countries to provide insights meant to help brands meet customers with empathy and understanding. Making this connection will help you build customer loyalty and deliver business growth during these (still) uncertain economic times.
When you download this eBook of our U.S. findings, you’ll get answers to the following:
- Are today’s shoppers buying more digital gift cards than last year?
- Are they buying more gift cards overall or less?
- Which group is buying more gift cards waiting in line at checkout?
- How much do gift card recipients spend beyond the card’s value?
- And much more
eBook— Fraud Report 2024: The state of gift card fraud
Download our new eBook, Fraud Report 2024: The state of gift card fraud.
As you know, gift card fraud affects merchants and customers alike. As gift card pioneer and global industry leader, we are right there with you. In fact, that’s one reason BHN continues to innovate and invest heavily in fraud prevention.
When shoppers purchase a gift card and send it to someone they love, they trust that gift is going to work. Unfortunately, fraud continues to be an area of focus across the payments industry, and this includes gift cards. Armed with a wealth of knowledge and experience from our expansive network, BHN is determined to maintain—and increase—the trust shoppers put in us and our merchant partners.
This new report combines new research and BHN insights to inform you on the latest challenges, trends and solutions regarding gift card fraud, including:
- The rise of gift card fraud reporting
- How BHN (and BHN Protect™) has been able to reduce fraud-related disputes on our managed content
- Why consumers usually share their fraud experiences with others
- How consumers contact customer care (and cost you money)
- Types of fraud experienced
- Fraud prevention tips from Homeland Security Investigations
- Key takeaways and how BHN can help