Gift Cards More Popular Than Ever at Christmas
Whether video games, movies, merch, fanzines, or e-books, digital sales across all media are hitting record highs.
With more and more people turning to online purchasing, services, and platforms, digital gift cards are quickly becoming the perfect gift.
2020 hasn’t exactly been a usual year, but one area that has seen growth is the gift card industry, both in physical and digital form.
Lockdown measures due to COVID-19 have made digital gift cards a lucrative market to be a part of, with analysis from the Gift Card & Voucher Association and KPMG UK stating that digital gift card sales have risen by nearly 50% this year.
That trend only looks like it will continue, with mageplaze.com suggesting that gift card sales will more than likely continue to grow and reach more than $500 billion by 2025.
source: mageplaza.com
It appears as though the two biggest reasons for purchasing gift cards is that they are easier and faster to buy, and the person can choose their own gift.
source: mageplaza.com
There are two types of gift cards; the closed-loop and open-loop gift cards.
Closed-loop gift cards are generally sold by stores and can purchase anything within that particular store.
Open-loop gift cards are a form of credit and work like a credit card or credit note and can be used to buy anything from any store that accepts them.
Below, you can see the jump in gift card sales since the early stages of the year when the first lockdowns began.
image: mageplaze.com
The gaming industry has seen a boom in digital sales due to shops being closed and people wanting to stay safe during the ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
Gift cards work the same way, with game CEO Felix Falk stating that they “enable good and safe entertainment…”
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Ingo Ingo is fast! Studied e-commerce and has his roots for now in lively Germany. At the same time, as an ambitious influencer consultant, he is close to gaming communities & game developers. He often knows what trends are currently going on. Ingo has a special fascination as game review editor. |
