Sign of the Times:TopGrading Solutions Reports that Holiday Shoppers are Spending More on Gift Cards

Jan. 5, 2011 - PRLog -- (Port St. Lucie, FL) – TopGrading Solutions recently conducted an informal poll to determine the use of gift cards this holiday season, including the average value per card.  The executive search firm has specialized in Retail Technology, Payments, Prepaid, and Loyalty & Incentives for over 30 years and is on the forefront of the industry.

TopGrading Solutions’ poll asked respondents to report the total number and cumulative value of gift cards they both gave and received this holiday season. The results were extremely promising. The average face value per gift card this season was $56.09, a sharp rise from the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) announced figure of $39.80 per card over the 2009 holiday season, which was a decrease from 2008’s average of $40.54 average value per gift card.

After the 2008-2009 drop, this increase of $16.29 may indicate an overall rise in consumer confidence. Also noteworthy in this poll is that the average number of cards received was 4 and the average number of cards given was 7, with 21% of respondents not giving or receiving any gift cards at all.



TopGrading Solutions Partner and Vice President Larry Lebofsky attributed the increase to a combination of factors.  “Bloomberg reported a sharp increase in year-over-year job growth coupled with increasing S&P returns and a substantial 4% increase in personal income YOY.  Wanted Analytics reported an increase of more than 730 thousand online job postings in October 2010. These weren’t just seasonal retail jobs – more than 140 thousand of those postings were for jobs paying over $100,000 per year. As the smoke clears, consumers are going out and buying. Our clients with a gift card solution are reporting annual December increases far above their own estimates. This is amazing news for consumers, retailers and card companies.”


About TopGrading Solutions:
TopGrading Solutions, Inc. is an MRINetwork® affiliate with offices in Florida and Massachusetts. MRINetwork has more than 600 offices in over 35 countries. TopGrading Solutions builds business by helping our clients locate and place Impact Players – that top 10% of the workforce that accounts for 90% of business impact. Its industry specialties include Retail Store Systems, Payment Systems, and Supply Chain Planning. Visit TopGrading Solutions at www.topgradingsolutions.com.

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Executive Search firm specializing in Electronic Payments, Prepaid, and Retail Technology. Member of the MRI Network.