InComm’s 2022 Holiday Research Links Gift Card Preferences to Shopper Generations

InComm Payments’ generational breakdown of its 2022 Holiday Report found broad agreement on the most-wanted gift cards, with sharper differences in how shoppers wanted to hear about offers. The analysis was published on November 30, 2022.

Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards, followed by online-retailer cards, occupied the leading preference categories across the generations discussed. Below those common choices, Generation X and baby boomers placed more emphasis on restaurant and dining cards and showed greater interest in grocery cards than younger shoppers.

Generation Z’s leading choices differed more noticeably: clothing and gaming ranked ahead of restaurants and dining. InComm used the comparison to argue that a gift card selection should reflect the shoppers a retailer is trying to reach.

Digital discovery and promotion channels

Nearly one-third of holiday shoppers said social media was likely to affect what they bought that season. Younger respondents were more susceptible to that influence. Generation Z was also the only group for which Facebook was not the leading social platform influencing holiday shopping.