Oct 20, 2008

All I want for Christmas is . . . a gift card?By Misty HarrisCanada.com

Luxury retailers will be singing the blues rather than Christmas carols if U.S. retail analysts’ predictions about holiday gift-giving come true.

According to a new report, the economic downturn is expected to trigger a swing toward such practical booty as gas cards, gift certificates for groceries, gift cards for quick-service restaurants and prepaid credit cards.

This would see consumers swapping shopping malls for drugstores, banks and food outlets. Sales in the non-traditional gift card category are forecast to grow 30 per cent over last year.

According to the Archstone Consulting report, which is based on responses from an online panel of 1,000 consumers, the restaurant and fast food category will sell more gift cards than any other niche this holiday season.

“Going out to dinner used to be something you did without thinking twice,” says Michael Unger, a principal at Archstone. “But for some demographics now, that’s more of a luxury, so a gift card for a restaurant would likely be very appreciated.”

The most desired gift cards among consumers, however, were found to be prepaid credit cards that allow recipients the “flexibility to purchase household needs at the gas station, supermarket or pharmacy.”

What your recession-fearing loved ones say they want now, however, and what they’ll hope to see under the tree Christmas morning could be two very different things.

“I think it’s easy for people answering these surveys in September or October to rationalize this decision and say ‘Oh yeah, it would be great to get a gas or grocery card. That would really help me,'” says Antonia Mantonakis, who teaches a class on consumer behaviour at Ontario’s Brock University.

“But at Christmas, when we have these really deeply ingrained social, symbolic and cultural norms of gift-giving, gift cards for basic necessities would more likely make people upset.”

Even recipients who would be helped by such presents might find them too far removed from their usual holiday expectations.

“I would rather you bring a bottle of wine to dinner than give me $20 to cover your portion of the meal,” says Mantonakis, an assistant professor of marketing.

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