Gift card and voucher sales up 17% in first quarter of 2014
Sales of gift cards and vouchers grew by 17% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014 according to statistics released by The UK Gift Card & Voucher Association.
A new report for the association, which was compiled by consultants at BDO, shows that the gift card and voucher industry grew by 10.53% in the period.
Strong growth was also seen by both gift card and paper vouchers with an increase of 17.8% and 10.6% respectively. The largest channel was direct store sales, which grew by 6.21% and represented 70.1% of total consumer sales.
UKGCVA director general Andrew Johnson said: “Growth of over 10% is a very positive start to 2014, a result we are extremely pleased with. It’s a sure sign that the gift card and voucher industry is continuing its momentum. Performance during the first period of any given year could be described as the litmus test for what retailers can expect for the year ahead. It’s encouraging to see a boost in consumer confidence, which has contributed to the increase in consumer gift card and voucher sales.”
