Gift cards were offered by 52% of planners in Northstar Meetings Group’s 2026 Gift Trends research. The finding puts them in direct competition with merchandise for corporate reward budgets, while the buying criteria point to a harder commercial question: how suppliers justify their offer when price dominates procurement. [S02]
A place in the budget, not a share of the market
Gifts offered by surveyed planners
Northstar Gift Trends 2026; 207 planners; multiple selections allowed.
%
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Source
Use and selection criteria, not spending shares or measured programme outcomes.
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| Category | Respondents |
|---|---|
| Apparel | 69% |
| Food and beverage | 54% |
| Gift cards | 52% |
| Electronics | 50% |
| Luggage / leather goods | 45% |
| Office accessories | 42% |
A planner can offer several categories in the same programme. These figures do not reveal the value of gift cards ordered, the number of recipients paid or the revenue earned by distributors. A widely used option can still receive a modest portion of the budget.
Who produced the research, and who sponsored it
Northstar Meetings Group serves meeting organisers and incentive professionals through publishing, research, events and sourcing services. Its audience includes the people who choose gifts and rewards for corporate programmes, making this a survey of buyers rather than a consumer poll. [S05]
The sponsor, Citizen Watch America, competes for that same spending through a dedicated business-to-business sales division. It supplies watches, customisation and an on-site selection service called Gift in Time. Its commercial interest is in corporate reward purchasing, even though gift cards are a different product category. [S06]
The report states that research and analysis were conducted without sponsor involvement. Separately, Northstar’s download form asks readers to agree to information sharing with the sponsor. That distribution model gives the sponsor a route to potential business buyers; it is not evidence that the sponsor controlled the results. [S02] [S03]
The report also describes the buyers behind these answers through the groups receiving their gifts: 72% named customers, 55% salespeople, 42% nonsalespeople and 21% dealers or distributors. Respondents could serve several groups. This is the participating planners’ purchasing context, not a measure of Northstar’s audience size or Citizen’s customer base. [S02]
Recipient groups served by participating planners
Northstar Gift Trends 2026, participating planners; multiple responses allowed.
percent of surveyed planners
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Source
Multiple responses, not spending shares, national consumer estimates, market shares or measured programme outcomes. Overall sample207 qualified incentive/corporate planners; question-specific bases are not supplied.
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| Category | Reported respondents |
|---|---|
| Customers | 72 percent of surveyed planners |
| Salespeople | 55 percent of surveyed planners |
| Nonsalespeople | 42 percent of surveyed planners |
| Dealers / distributors | 21 percent of surveyed planners |
Where the commercial contest becomes sharper
Factors influencing gift selection
Northstar Gift Trends 2026; 207 planners; multiple selections allowed.
%
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
Use and selection criteria, not spending shares or measured programme outcomes.
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| Category | Respondents |
|---|---|
| Price | 82% |
| Perceived value | 56% |
| Popular trends | 48% |
| Ease of fulfilment | 46% |
| Recipient demographics | 46% |
| Programme goals | 42% |
For a gift card supplier, the opportunity is to compete on the work around the reward as well as its face value. Digital fulfilment may remove physical packing and shipping, but delivery failures, recipient support and the range of usable brands remain real parts of the service. Any claimed saving needs to include those costs.
Merchandise suppliers face a different proposition: the object, presentation and experience may be part of what the corporate buyer is purchasing. A gift card cannot be assumed to replace that value simply because it is easier to distribute. Conversely, a physical gift that misses a recipient’s preferences can consume a budget without delivering the intended recognition.
Our assessment is that this creates a contest over perceived value per programme dollar, not a straightforward migration from goods to cards. A distributor able to combine flexible denominations with dependable delivery has a plausible sales argument. The research does not show that such a distributor has already won additional orders.
What the findings establish
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| Research detail | Reported methodology |
|---|---|
| Respondents | 207 qualified incentive and corporate planners |
| Fieldwork | June 15 to July 15, 2026 |
| Producer | Northstar Meetings Group |
| Sponsor | Citizen Watch America |
Fieldwork ran from June 15 to July 15, 2026. The sample describes participating incentive and corporate planners; it is not a nationally representative consumer survey. [S02]
Programme objectives make that evidential boundary visible. Building customer loyalty and recognising employees were each named by 66% of respondents, while 35% named increasing sales. These percentages describe what planners wanted gifts to accomplish. They do not report how often those goals were achieved. [S02]
Objectives reported for gifting programmes
Northstar Gift Trends 2026, participating planners; multiple responses allowed.
percent of surveyed planners
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
Multiple responses, not spending shares, national consumer estimates, market shares or measured programme outcomes. Overall sample207 qualified incentive/corporate planners; question-specific bases are not supplied.
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| Category | Reported respondents |
|---|---|
| Building customer loyalty | 66 percent of surveyed planners |
| Recognising employees | 66 percent of surveyed planners |
| Building morale / job satisfaction | 54 percent of surveyed planners |
| Increasing sales | 35 percent of surveyed planners |
| Increasing market share | 13 percent of surveyed planners |
The missing commercial measure is realised performance: purchasing volumes, recipient use and the business result the reward was intended to support. The study gives suppliers evidence about buyer priorities. It does not establish that gift cards increase employee output, that merchandise produces stronger loyalty, or that either category generates a better return.
In this article
Suzie Elis
Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.