Coffee Chat #36: Gratitude, Gift Cards, and the Five-Day Spending Frenzy: Holiday Shopping and Gift Cards

November 23, 2025

It’s Thanksgiving week — a time for gratitude, giving thanks, and…holiday shopping using gift cards.

In this week's Coffee Chat, I unpack insights from PwC’s 2025 Holiday Outlook Report:

• ~40% of holiday shopping spend occurs during the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday

• Gift cards are still the #1 most-wanted gift

• 79% of shoppers tap loyalty currencies to help cover holiday purchases and buy gift cards, including redeeming for gift cards (Mastercard / Harris Poll)

Why? Because gift cards are practical, personal, and help stretch every dollar.

Sometimes the best gift or thank you is giving someone value they can actually use.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone! ☕️

Till next time. --Eric

By the way - here's additional research for this week's Coffee Chat (most of which didn't make it into the final edit):

Holiday Shopping, Loyalty, and Gift Card Statistics

Holiday Shopping Window / Thanksgiving–Cyber Monday

• ~40% of all holiday shopping spend occurs during the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. Source: PwC Holiday Outlook Report

Loyalty Points, Rewards, and Self-Use Behavior

• 79% of consumers plan to redeem loyalty points, miles, cash back, or rewards to complete holiday purchases. Source: Mastercard / Harris Poll Holiday Shopping Survey

• 52% of consumers say they will use loyalty points to buy themselves a gift or gift card. Source: Clover (Gift Cards & Loyalty Programs holiday spending survey)

Gift Card Demand, Preferences & Payment Behavior

• 27% of consumers prefer to pay with a gift card during holiday shopping, up 13 percentage points YoY, the largest increase over ALL other payment methods (credit, debit, BNPL, digital wallets, cash). Source: PwC Holiday Outlook Report

• Gift cards are still the #1 most-wanted holiday gift:

  • 47% among family members

  • 52% among friends

  • Source: PwC Holiday Outlook Report

• Consumers would rather have a $25 gift card from a store they frequently visit than a $50 gift card from a store they rarely visit — demonstrating the power of familiarity and utility. Source: Fiserv Holiday Consumer Insights

• Gift cards and prepaid tools are increasingly used as a budget-stretching strategy during inflationary or tight-spending periods. Source: Fiserv “Uncertain Economy Driving Gift Card Adoption” Analysis

Restaurant & Retail Gift Card Sales (Thanksgiving Weekend Trend)

• Restaurant gift card sales rose 7.3% Thanksgiving weekend year-over-year. Source: Payments Dive (Patronix data)

• Digital restaurant gift card sales increased 8.5%, while physical card sales declined 2.6% during the same weekend. Source: Payments Dive (Patronix data)

Black Friday / Holiday Shopper Behavior

• Around 1 in 3 shoppers (≈36–37%) plan to purchase gift cards on Black Friday. Source: DriveResearch Holiday Shopping Survey

• Gift card spending increased ~38% YoY in holiday/Black Friday windows. Source: Storyly Black Friday Retail Trends

• ~39% of total planned holiday gift spending happens in the Thanksgiving–Cyber Monday period. Source: PwC Holiday Outlook

P.s. I'm grateful for our NeoCurrency clients and partners who rely on us to supply and distribute gift cards and digital rewards across the world during this important, shopping period. 🙌🏻 🦃