InComm Payments’ 2025 Gift Card Year in Review found more spontaneous purchases, greater use of online channels to locate brands and rising demand for gaming and other at-home entertainment cards. Published on March 23, 2026, it analyzes quarterly surveys of more than 6,500 gift card shoppers during 2025.

Participants had bought a gift card within the preceding 90 days, and the surveys were not limited to InComm’s own distribution channels. The findings describe changes in surveyed shopper behavior, with the previous year used for comparison.

Unplanned buying and display placement

InComm reported a 14% year-over-year rise in spontaneous gift card purchases overall. For closed-loop cards tied to a brand or defined group of brands, the number of shoppers reporting a spontaneous purchase increased almost 30%, while those planning in advance declined 8%.

Open-loop spontaneous buying increased 7%, with advance planning comparatively stable. The number of open-loop shoppers selecting a card from a checkout-lane display also rose 12%. InComm linked these patterns to the importance of prominent in-store placement and relevant promotions.

Shoppers moved online to find missing brands

When a desired closed-loop card was unavailable in a store, more shoppers turned to the internet. The number doing so rose 20% in 2025. Within that behavior, visits to dedicated gift card sales websites increased 74%, while visits to websites operated by physical retailers rose 37%.

Digital formats also gained ground. The number of respondents selecting digital gift cards increased 14%, and the average number of digital cards bought rose 23.5%. For merchants, the report connects that demand with maintaining a broad brand range in online gift card programs.

Gaming and at-home entertainment

Intent to buy gaming gift cards rose 86%, with brands such as PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and Steam included in the category. Among shoppers buying for themselves, that intent doubled.

In a separate measure of brand-category selection, the report records increases of 110% for gaming, 100% for streaming services and 67% for delivery services. Those figures concern changes in category selection and should not be read as growth in overall market revenue.

InComm interprets the entertainment pattern as greater interest in activities enjoyed at home. Its recommendation to retailers and loyalty program managers is to align available brands with those preferences while ensuring customers can find the cards they want in store or online.