What Company Offered The First In-Store Gift Card?

National Use Your Gift Card Day reminds Americans to use the $1 billion in unused gift cards each year. On the third Saturday in January, take stock of the gift cards you received over the holidays. Then, make the most of each one of them before they’re forgotten for good!

• 1994 – Neiman Marcus introduces the first in-store gift card.
• 1996 – The store, Blockbuster, launches the first successful gift card.
• 1998 – Macy’s, the Gap, and other retailers have them available.
• 2001 – Starbucks launches the first gift card that can be reused.
• 2010 – The number of restaurant gift cards increased, the average purchase increased, and the percentage of reloaded gift cards increased.
• 2019 – Amazon card was the #1 gift card. In 2019, amazon introduced the first digital gift card, which gave gift cards popularity in the US.
• 2020 – Tracy Tilson founded the National Use Your Gift Card Day in 2020. Tilson believes that gift cards should either be cashed up or donated for a good cause.
• We discover them as we clean and often don’t remember how much was on the card or if we used a portion of it.
• Check for deals to maximize your gift cards. In most cases, gift cards work just like cash and can be used with coupons. However, there are exceptions, so it’s always good to check first.
• Is the card to a place you don’t shop? You have a few options: See if the card is good at a companion location. Check to see if the retailer will cash the card out. Have a gift card swap party or sell your gift card for cash. Finally, donate your gift card to a charity fundraiser like a silent auction.
• Gift cards should be used within five years of the date they are activated. Federal law prevents retailers from expiring their gift cards in under five years. However, the retailer may charge a fee if the card isn’t used within 12 months.
• Giving a gift card to someone is better than buying a gift they may not like.
• 93% of U.S. citizens have given gifts as store cards.
• 68% of people give gift cards as a birthday present.
• Almost half of all Starbucks transactions were made with gift cards.
• Men spend more on gift cards.
• 51% of shoppers forget to redeem gift cards
• 37% of those buying gift cards were millennials
• There was a 31.8% drop in restaurant gift card sales during 2021
• Only 17% of Americans want to receive a gift card during Christmas
• Social Media accounted for 46% of gift card purchases in 2021
• 73% buy gift cards for close family members
• 59% spend more than what the value of the gift card is for
• 50% of All Gift Cards Are For Christmas 
• 48% of Gift Cards Are For Birthdays 
• 20% of people surveyed over the age of 65 would prefer to receive gift cards
• 53% Want Gift Cards Stored On Their Phone 
• Social media and messaging apps have added the ability to send and receive various gift cards, and 62% of people between ages 18 and 34 want to receive their gift cards this way!
• 76% of People Use Gift Cards For Themselves 
• According to research by Mercator Advisory Group, Inc., $3.5 billion in gift cards go unredeemed every year.
• According to a recent survey conducted by Persistence Market Research (2017), the global market for gift cards is expected to hit $698 billion by 2024.
• According to a recent study, Americans spend around 55 percent of their Christmas gift money on gift cards.
• It can be difficult to manage a large number of gift cards. You don’t want to have them with you all the time, but you never know when you’ll need or want to use them. There’s an app for that, thankfully!
• One of the cool facts about gift cards is that you might be able to get them for yourself or others using the rewards points you’ve acquired on your credit card
• Fully 79 percent of young adults aged 18 to 24 feel less guilty shopping with a gift card, and a whopping 78 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds agree. Women (74 percent) experience guilt significantly more intensely than men (57 percent).
• Gift cards are the No. 1 presents requested many years in a row now.
• Around 65% of customers are now purchasing digital gift cards without any ads, which is 33% higher than last year.
• You can sell unwanted cards on sites like Giftcardstonaira.com and Apexpay.org.
• Retailers who switch from paper gift certificates to plastic gift cards typically see a 50-100% increase in sales.
• The average gift card user ends up spending an extra 20% beyond the value of the card.
• Gift cards are most popular with teenagers. One survey reports that 98% of teens have either purchased or received a gift card.
• The most commonly purchased gift card amount is $25.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

National Today

EZ Pin

Gift Cards To Naira

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