Paytronix Trend Report: Digital Card Sales Surge 7% Year over Year

Overall revenue from gift card sales up four percent year over year, despite the change in average dollars loaded per card dropping four percent

NEWTON, Mass. - Oct. 16, 2024 - Paytronix, the leader in guest engagement for restaurants and convenience stores, today unveiled the much-anticipated 2024 Paytronix Gift Card Trend Report. It’s most robust to date, it finds that while the number of cards sold in 2023 is on par with 2022, overall revenue from gift card sales is up four percent year over year. Among Paytronix clients, the number of digital gift cards sold grew 7% in 2023 to make up 34% of the total gift card market and become the fastest-growing gift card segment

Download the 2024 Paytronix Gift Card Report for all the numbers and insights.

“Forward-thinking restaurants are embracing digital gift cards, offering seamless purchasing, sending, redemption, and reloading experiences through mobile apps and websites,” said Lee Barnes, the Chief Data Officer of Paytronix. “In our latest report we’re helping brands understand that, by viewing gift cards as more than just a sales channel, they can expand their reach, empower their advocates, drive loyalty, and create personalized experiences that keep guests coming back for more.”

Adopting a Mobile-First Strategy
The report explores why a mobile-first approach to digital gift cards is becoming increasingly important for restaurants. Mobile gift cards can easily integrate with a restaurant’s existing app, loyalty program, and online ordering system. This cohesion creates a unified digital ecosystem that deepens a guests’ experiences and keeps their favorite establishment at their fingertips.

Mobile gift cards seamlessly merge with popular digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, allowing guests to easily store and access their gift cards for online orders and in-store purchases via NFC or QR code scans. A mobile-first approach to gift cards also provides valuable data on customer behaviors and preferences that can be used to create personalized promotions, fine-tune a loyalty program, and guide strategic business decisions.

Key findings from the report include:

Digital Cards Redeemed Twice as Fast – While unredeemed gift cards may seem profitable in the short term, encouraging swift redemption can cultivate lifelong customers. Report data reveals that the average online card was redeemed in 16.8 days, while cards purchased in-store took 35.3 days for redemption.

Increasing Sales – Year-over-year gift card sales continue to increase with 2023 revenue up 6 percent over 2022. Digital gift cards grew the most with sales up 229% between 2019 and 2023. Gift card growth among full-service restaurants (FSRs) also jumped with sales up around 1% (2022, 2,259,621 to 2023 2,342,083).

Most Popular – By far the most popular denomination are $25 cards, which made up 34% of cards sold in 2023. But $50 cards were the biggest mover with an increase of 17% in sales.

Holiday Sales – Year-over-year change in holiday gift cards were up five percent, with 80 percent of all physical gift cards, both in-store and third-party, sold in November and December.

Methodology
The 2024 Paytronix Gift Card Report draws on data sourced from aggregate gift card sales for 241 merchants continually operating gift card programs between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2023. These merchants all had at least six months of gift card sales data starting in July 2018.