Sales of gift cards and vouchers grow at highest rate for several quarters
A new report has revealed that sales of gift cards and vouchers achieved the highest level of growth for several quarters in the first quarter of 2013.
Statistics from The UK Gift Card & Voucher Association , show that like-for-like consumer sales of gift cards and vouchers grew by 4.6% from January to March 2013.
Strong growth was seen across the different types of consumer gift card sales. While sales of traditional paper and e-vouchers increased by almost 20%, restricted loop gift cards showed the highest growth of 35%.
Andrew Johnson, director-general of the UKGCVA, said: “Over 4% growth across the industry is a very strong performance given the instability of the wider retail market. It’s both interesting and encouraging to see evidence that consumer confidence in vouchers so far seems to be relatively unaffected by fall-out from high street administrations and issues around voucher redemption, as many consumers still turned to vouchers as a gifting option in the run up to Easter.”
The report, which was compiled independently by consultants at Ernst & Young, assessed data submitted by UKGCVA members which include high street retailers, department stores, supermarkets, online retailers, B2B agencies and industry service providers.
