Diggecard has connected demand for local gift cards with Mastercard research on British shopping behaviour during the pandemic. In an August 2021 article, the provider cited findings that 66% of UK shoppers were more likely to shop in their local community than a year earlier.

Diggecard reported that 49% wanted to help their community recover, 27% wanted to establish or renew relationships with local shopkeepers and independent stores, and 20% cited trust in recommendations from people nearby. These are figures quoted in its August 2021 commentary. The underlying UK study date, sample and question wording have not been independently verified; the commentary date does not establish when the survey was conducted.

Diggecard argued that a shift towards local spending could influence the brands people wanted to give and receive as gift cards. It identified independent retail, leisure and hospitality operators as businesses that could make their offering available through a gift card programme ahead of Christmas 2021.

The provider also pointed to business demand for local content in rewards, incentives, employee benefits and promotional programmes. That creates a separate distribution opportunity from selling a card directly to a consumer on the business's own website.

Diggecard described its small-business gift card solution as supporting sales through a website or social media presence with management and redemption tools. Its argument was that local merchants needed an available gift card product to participate in those consumer and corporate buying routes; the article did not report measured sales gains from the shopping trend.