Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/research-trends/study-finds-egift-cards-gaining-popularity-among-consumers-91cec4d9df45/ --- description: Virtual Incentives’ March 2015 commentary cites Bankrate’s card survey and CEB’s historical gift card estimates. title: Virtual Incentives Reviews Digital Gift Card Availability in 2014 Research image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/virtual-incentives-reviews-digital-gift-card-availability-2014-research-34a049979fc79323e40ef6e06e798c46.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) # Virtual Incentives Reviews Digital Gift Card Availability in 2014 Research Virtual Incentives’ March 2015 commentary cites Bankrate’s card survey and CEB’s historical gift card estimates. By [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) March 4, 2015 1 min read Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fstudy-finds-egift-cards-gaining-popularity-among-consumers-91cec4d9df45%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Virtual%20Incentives%20Reviews%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20Availability%20in%202014%20Research "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fstudy-finds-egift-cards-gaining-popularity-among-consumers-91cec4d9df45%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Virtual%20Incentives%20Reviews%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20Availability%20in%202014%20Research%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fstudy-finds-egift-cards-gaining-popularity-among-consumers-91cec4d9df45%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Source image for Study Finds Egift Cards Gaining Popularity Among Consumers](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/virtual-incentives-reviews-digital-gift-card-availability-2014-research-source-image-study-w1280.webp) Photo: Source: virtualincentives.com [Virtual Incentives](https://giftcard.news/company/virtual-incentives/) has highlighted findings from [Bankrate](https://giftcard.news/company/bankrate/)’s late-2014 gift card survey showing wider digital availability. In a March 4, 2015 commentary, the company reports that 59% of the 62 cards surveyed had a digital version, compared with 54% in 2013. The commentary also cites consumer responses: 14% of millennials polled had given or used a mobile gift card, compared with 7% among people aged 30 to 49\. Those figures describe the groups and period in the earlier survey. Separately, it reports CEB estimates of more than $124 billion in total gift card sales in 2014, up 5% from the prior year. Estimated electronic gift card sales rose from $5 billion in 2013 to $6 billion in 2014. At the time, CEB forecast that electronic gift card sales could reach roughly $17 billion by 2017\. That was a forward-looking estimate cited in 2015, not an observed result for 2017. The article refers to CEB TowerGroup research director [Brian Riley](https://giftcard.news/person/brian-riley/)’s view that a maturing gift card market could still benefit from digital innovation. Virtual Incentives connected those findings with customizable electronic rewards and simpler delivery; it was commenting on external research rather than publishing a new study of its own. ## Sources and documents ExpandCollapse * [Study: Popularity surges for egift cards](https://www.virtualincentives.com/study-popularity-surges-for-egift-cards/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — virtualincentives.com ## In this article ### Companies * [Bankrate](https://giftcard.news/company/bankrate/) * [Virtual Incentives](https://giftcard.news/company/virtual-incentives/) ### People * [Brian Riley](https://giftcard.news/person/brian-riley/) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fstudy-finds-egift-cards-gaining-popularity-among-consumers-91cec4d9df45%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Virtual%20Incentives%20Reviews%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20Availability%20in%202014%20Research "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fstudy-finds-egift-cards-gaining-popularity-among-consumers-91cec4d9df45%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Virtual%20Incentives%20Reviews%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20Availability%20in%202014%20Research%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fstudy-finds-egift-cards-gaining-popularity-among-consumers-91cec4d9df45%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) Journalist — Payments, Security & PCI DSS Daniel Brooks covers payment networks, financial technology, payment security, gift card fraud and PCI DSS for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [MENA’s Digital Gift Card Markets: A Country-by-Country Research Atlas](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/mena-digital-gift-card-markets/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 18, 2026 66 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [India’s Digital Gift Card Market: Growth, Consumers and Regulation](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/india-digital-gift-card-market/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 18, 2026 30 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [AI Can Shop for You. Can It Spend Your Gift Cards?](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 17, 2026 17 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/#person","name":"Daniel Brooks","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/","description":"Daniel Brooks covers payment networks, financial technology, payment security, gift card fraud and PCI DSS for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Payments, Security & PCI 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