Plastic is fantastic: More folks want gift cards for Christmas
“All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.” – 1944 novelty Christmas song
These days, more than half of adults actually want gift cards, those colorful slivers of plastic that can buy everything from a Grand Slam breakfast at Denny’s, to a shotgun at BassPro Shops to an airline ticket at Southwest.
Even local businesses can issue gift cards. Holiday shoppers nationwide this season will buy almost $25 billion in gift cards, averaging about $40 a card.
It’s the gift to give.
In a survey of consumers asked to choose their most desired holiday present, 55.2 percent of adults chose gift cards, the highest single category, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation.
That preference has been nudging upward since 2006 as some other major categories, such as clothing and video games, have declined.
Holiday shoppers buy an average of almost four gift cards each, according to the NRF.
