Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- Overview
- The insights
- Shopping for gifts occurs throughout the year
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- Figure 1: Gifting occasions, March 2019
- Gift shoppers are exploring their options
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- Figure 2: Multichannel gift-shopping behaviors, March 2019
- The opportunities
- Give recipients more control over the gifts they receive
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- Figure 3: Attitudes toward receiving gifts, March 2019
- Promote registries for nontraditional occasions – and nontraditional gifts
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- Figure 4: Future gift registry interest, by generation, March 2019
- Encourage people to treat themselves
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- Figure 5: Self-gifting behaviors, by gender and age, March 2019
- Leverage social media to provide inspiration
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- Figure 6: Social media attitudes and behaviors related to gifting, by age, March 2019
- What it means
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Gifting market strong and growing
- Healthy economy drives discretionary spending
- More than one third of gift shoppers are online dominant
- Societal trends impact gifting occasions
- Annual number of births and birth rate continues to decline
Market Value Indicators
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- Spending during the winter holiday season crosses $700 billion
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- Figure 7: Total winter holiday sales* in the US, 2015-18
- Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day lead for expectations to spend
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- Figure 8: Expected spending* on other holidays in the US, 2015-18
Market Drivers
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- Positive economic environment drives discretionary spending
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- Figure 9: Consumer Sentiment Index, January 2007-April 2019
- Figure 10: Consumer confidence and unemployment, 2000-April 2019
- Online is creating new opportunities for gifting
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- Figure 11: Channels shopped for gifts, March 2019
- Millennials are more likely to go over budget – and to treat themselves
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- Figure 12: Gifting habits – Budget and self-gifting, by generation, January 2019
Market Factors
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- Annual marriages on the rise, though rate continues steady decline
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- Figure 13: Provisional number of marriages and marriage rate in the US, 2000-16
- Increasing number of singles means more opportunity to promote self-gifting
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- Figure 14: Marital status of the population age 15 and over, in thousands, 2008-18
- Those who do get married put it off until later in life
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- Figure 15: Average age at first marriage, by gender, 2008-18
- Births hit a 30-year low
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- Figure 16: Annual births and fertility rate, 2007-17
Analyst Perspective
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- Gift shopping “experiences” will become more common
- Group gifts will encourage larger purchases from registries
Key Trends in Gifting – What You Need to Know
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- Major retailers building loyalty through registries, tech, personal service
- Winter holiday shopping season starts earlier in the fall
- Gifting occasions can happen at any time for any reason
Key Players
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- Amazon allows shoppers to collaborate on Wish Lists
- Walmart makes its baby registry more user-friendly
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- Figure 17: Walmart baby registry tweet, April 2019
- Crate and Barrel offers private registry events
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- Figure 18: Deer Park Town Center Crate and Barrel wedding registry event Facebook post, February 2019
- Macy’s teams with Facebook on holiday pop-up shops
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- Figure 19: News coverage of Macy’s/Facebook pop-up, November 2018
- Nordstrom provides Gift Scouts to help shoppers during the holidays
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- Figure 20: Nordstrom customer acquisition email, December 2018
- Best Buy leverages user generated content to give shoppers gift ideas
What’s Working?
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- Gift givers feast on Thanksgiving week online deals
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- Figure 21: Online sales in the US, Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday, 2018
- Self-gifting, just because
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- Figure 22: Self-gifting behaviors, by select demographics, March 2019
- Gift registries can drive repeat business
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- Figure 23: Gift registry experience impact on shopping with a retailer, by key demographics, March 2019
What’s Struggling?
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- Mall-based specialty gifting retailers losing relevancy
What’s Next?
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- Retailers will more actively promote unconventional gifting occasions
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- Figure 24: Aveda Singles’ Day customer acquisition email, November 2018
- Figure 25: BCBGMAXAZRIA Friendsgiving customer acquisition email, November 2018
- Gift recipients will have more control over the gifts they receive
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- Figure 26: GiftNow acquisition emails, Kenneth Cole – February 2019, Saks Fifth Avenue – December 2018
- Chatbots will get smarter and offer more functions
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- Figure 27: 1-800-Flowers.com Facebook Messenger chatbot examples, April 2019
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- Figure 28: Burberry Facebook Messenger chatbot examples, April 2019
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Traditional gifting occasions remain most popular
- Gift cards remain most popular, room for experiential gifting to grow
- Familiarity can take a retailer only so far with gift shoppers
- Gift buyers gravitate online for inspiration
- Gift registries will continue to evolve and include more types of gifts
- More than half struggle to come up with ideas for themselves
Gifting Occasions
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- Key takeaways
- Birthdays and winter holidays are the most popular gifting occasions
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- Figure 29: Gift-purchasing occasions, March 2019
- Winter holiday spending outpaces all other gifting occasions
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- Figure 30: Average amount spent per recipient per gifting occasion, March 2019
- Who, what and why is more important than how much
- Women are more likely than men to buy gifts for most (not all) occasions
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- Figure 31: Gift purchasing occasions, by gender, March 2019
- Marriage and parenthood lead to increases in gift purchasing
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- Figure 32: Gift purchasing occasions – Select occasions, by marital and parental status, March 2019
- Younger consumers give gifts to say thanks
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- Figure 33: Gift-purchasing occasions – To say “Thank You,” by age, March 2019
Types of Gifts
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- Key takeaways
- Gift cards, clothing, food and beverage are most popular with gift givers
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- Figure 34: Types of gifts given, March 2019
- Fewer people buying gift cards, foodservice makes gains among card purchasers
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- Figure 35: Gift card purchasing, 2011-18
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- Figure 36: Types of gift cards purchased, 2011-18
- Younger gift buyers tend toward tangible products
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- Figure 37: Types of gifts given – Tangible products, by generation, March 2019
- Parents, more-affluent gift givers get creative with experiences
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- Figure 38: Types of gifts given – Experiences, by parental status and household income, March 2019
- Younger women are more likely to give homemade gifts
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- Figure 39: Types of gifts given – Homemade gifts, by gender and age, March 2019
Gift Shopping Habits
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- Key takeaways
- Online shopping is common among gift buyers
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- Figure 40: Dominant gift-shopping channel, by select demographics, March 2019
- Gift buyers gravitate toward familiar retailers first
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- Figure 41: Gift-shopping habits, March 2019
- Promote unique offerings to stand out with comparison gift shoppers
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- Figure 42: Comparison shopping behaviors, by generation and Hispanic origin, March 2019
- Men look to validate their gift selections
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- Figure 43: Omnichannel gift-shopping habits, by gender, March 2019
- What gift shoppers like and don’t like about shopping for gifts
Resources Used to Find the Right Gift
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- Key takeaways:
- Amazon is the top resource for gift shoppers
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- Figure 44: Resources used to find the right gift, March 2019
- Younger adults more likely to use online resources
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- Figure 45: Online resources used to find the right gift, by age, March 2019
- Store associates can be a competitive advantage – particularly with men
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- Figure 46: In-store resources used to find the right gift, by gender and age, March 2019
Gift Registries
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- Key takeaways
- Half of all adults have shopped from a gift registry
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- Figure 47: Gift registry usage, by key demographics, March 2019
- Not available in store? Not a problem for most registry shoppers
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- Figure 48: Gift registry behaviors – Online and offline, by gender and age, March 2019
- Offering in-store experiences could generate more business from registry users
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- Figure 49: Gift registry attitudes – Special hours and retailer use, by gender and age, March 2019
- Gift registries will continue to expand and evolve
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- Figure 50: Future gift registry interest, by age, March 2019
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- Figure 51: VEBO gift registry Facebook post, April 2019
Receiving Gifts
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- Key takeaways
- Make it easier for people to get inspiration for gifts they want to receive
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- Figure 52: Attitudes and behaviors around receiving gifts, March 2019
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- Figure 53: Customer message to Amazon on Twitter, April 2018
- Women and Millennials are more likely to re-gift
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- Figure 54: Re-gifting behaviors, by gender and age, March 2019
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- Figure 55: New York & Co. customer acquisition email, December 2018
- Encourage gift idea sharing on social media
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- Figure 56: Social media for gifting, by gender and age and by Hispanic origin, March 2019
- It’s the thought that counts, recipients appreciate a personal touch
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
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- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Consumer qualitative research
- Direct marketing creative
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Appendix – The Consumer
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- Figure 57: Gift card purchases in the past 12 months, 2011-18
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- Figure 58: Types of gift cards purchased in the last 12 months, 2011-18
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