Get to know the current personas of gift card givers and spenders
Consumers exhibit five distinct gift card behaviors that shape how they give, spend, and manage their balances. Understanding gift card personas helps merchants tailor offers that drive engagement and retention. Click on each persona to learn more.
The Hoarder
The Hoarder is always saving balances for the perfect moment, waiting for merchants to offer stored value perks like bonus points to maximize their purchasing power.
The Gifter
The Gifter
The Redeemer
The Redeemer
The Strategists
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Forgetter
The Hoarder
The Hoarder
The Gifter
The Gifter
The Redeemer
The Redeemer
The Strategist
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Forgetter
Get to know the current personas of gift card givers and spenders
Consumers exhibit five distinct gift card behaviors that shape how they give, spend, and manage their balances. Understanding gift card personas helps merchants tailor offers that drive engagement and retention. Click on each persona to learn more.
The Gifter
The Hoarder
The Hoarder
The Gifter
The Gifter appreciates receiving gift cards by paying it forward through regifting, not personal use.
The Redeemer
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Redeemer
The Redeemer
The Strategist
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Forgetter
Get to know the current personas of gift card givers and spenders
Consumers exhibit five distinct gift card behaviors that shape how they give, spend, and manage their balances. Understanding gift card personas helps merchants tailor offers that drive engagement and retention. Click on each persona to learn more.
The Hoarder
The Gifter
The Gifter
The Hoarder
The Gifter
The Redeemer
The Redeemer always has a purchase in mind and will likely not hold on to a gift card for very long. Instead, this audience values speed and efficiency.
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Strategist
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Forgetter
Get to know the current personas of gift card givers and spenders
Consumers exhibit five distinct gift card behaviors that shape how they give, spend, and manage their balances. Understanding gift card personas helps merchants tailor offers that drive engagement and retention. Click on each persona to learn more.
The Gifter
The Hoarder
The Gifter
The Gifter
The Redeemer
The Redeemer
The Strategist
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Forgetter
The Hoarder
The Gifter
The Redeemer
The Strategist
The Strategist, much like the Hoarder, is out to achieve maximum value by stacking gift card balances with sales and loyalty points to get more for less.
The Forgetter
The Redeemer
The Redeemer
The Strategist
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Forgetter
Get to know the current personas of gift card givers and spenders
Consumers exhibit five distinct gift card behaviors that shape how they give, spend, and manage their balances. Understanding gift card personas helps merchants tailor offers that drive engagement and retention. Click on each persona to learn more.
The Gifter
The Hoarder
The Gifter
The Gifter
The Redeemer
The Redeemer
The Strategist
The Strategists
The Forgetter
The Forgetter
The Hoarder
The Gifter
The Redeemer
The Strategists
The Forgetter
While the intention may be to spend the gift card, The Forgetter is unaware of what they have and often need to be reminded if they are going to engage with the brand.
Gift cards recover amid economic flux
Prepaid spending is back on the rise
After a period of uncertainty, consumers are once again turning to gift cards as a flexible and reliable way to manage spending and celebrate special occasions. This is evident by a 10% increase in gift card spending this year.
In the last 12 months, consumers have:
2025
2024
Consumers’ gift card buying choices are influenced by:
47%
Interests of people receiving the gifts
42%
Number of events that require gifts
40%
Economic outlook
39%
Potential income change
Digital integration, personalization, loyalty, and gift cards
Merchants have a unique opportunity to capture and retain today’s digitally savvy consumers by prioritizing seamless, secure, and personalized experiences.
Digital gift card enthusiasts are motivated by:
To strengthen retention, merchants should focus on loyalty rewards, including:
Get more information on leveraging digital gift cards, loyalty incentives, and AI-driven personalization to increase revenue and customer lifetime value.
AI trends: consumers adopt to shop
AI unlocks new levels of personalization in the shopping experience and is rapidly becoming an integral part of the shopping experience, with one in three consumers using it daily.
How consumers are using AI for shopping:
49%
How consumers are using AI for shopping:
Stored value and digital wallets as budgeting tools
Where financial wellness and digital management meet loyalty
As digital wallets and stored value options become more integrated into daily life, consumers are discovering new ways to manage their finances and maximize loyalty benefits.
84% of consumers say their loyalty would increase if merchants offered stored value perks.
How consumers are using stored value:
46%
Saving for essentials
45%
Making gift planning easier
40%
Making gift planning easier
Increasing digital wallet adoption will continue to strengthen stored value opportunities:
Current digital wallet usage:
32% Daily
64% Weekly
78% Monthly
Three ways merchants can encourage digital wallet use:
Current digital wallet usage:
35%
24%
16%
Bridging the critical awareness gap
Merchants have a significant opportunity to boost retention by increasing visibility and awareness of their most popular offerings. For those not taking advantage of incentives, awareness is a major factor. 57% cite a lack of awareness of loyalty to promotions.
Most commonly used loyalty incentives:
How merchants can close the awareness gap:
(Receiving a free gift card with purchase)
Flash sales
(Receiving a bonus gift card with a purchase for a limited time)
Private/exclusive gift card shopping events.
(Redeeming coupons or deals only redeemable with
gift card purchases)