Statistics Show Gift Card Sales Will Grow

With the Book Sense Gift Card program in full swing for about seven months now, statistics compiled by ABA bear out the fact that gift cards are extremely popular with book buyers. Moreover, recently released research is projecting overall gift card sales to increase to over $90 billion by 2007.

ABA has compiled electronic gift-card sales figures for the month of December 2003 and for the period October 1, 2003 - March 30, 2004. From December 1 - December 30, 2003, there were 22,300 Book Sense gift cards sold, amounting to $576,110 in sales, for an average sale-per-card of $25.80.

Total gift card sales for the period January 1, 2004 - March 30, 2004 was $175,000, with 6,800 Book Sense Gift Cards sold at an average sale-per-card of $25.74.

Overall, total gift card sales for the period October 1, 2003 - March 30, 2004, was $803,800 with an average sale-per-card of $25.68. At present, the Book Sense Gift Card program has 174 participating locations in 43 states.

While the Book Sense Gift Card program has been extremely successful for those bookstores participating, recent figures released by TowerGroup in its report, The Sturm und Drang of Gift Cards in the US Market, show that gift cards have seen tremendous growth in the seven years since Blockbuster introduced them in 1996. In addition, experts expect that they will become even more popular among consumers.

According to the report, at present, over 92 percent of consumers are aware of the product. Furthermore, the purchase of gift cards grew 50 percent from 2002 to 2003, totaling close to $45 billion in sales in 2003. TowerGroup projects significant growth for gift cards through 2007, to more than $90 billion in sales.

To sign up for the program, click here.

For comprehensive information on the Book Sense Gift Card Program, go to www.bookweb.org/read/6303.

Questions about the Book Sense Gift Card Program should be addressed to ABA Marketing Director Jill Perlstein at [email protected] or (800) 637-0037, ext. 1283.