It seems to me that this Christmas the gifts are smaller than usual. I don’t mean fewer; I mean physically smaller. And I think this is because the giving of gift certificates – better known in the retail industry as gift cards – has become more acceptable and prevalent. Or maybe they became prevalent, and so they became acceptable.
No matter. Gift cards are here to stay.
Once it was considered gauche to give money when one could present an actual gift wrapped with festive paper, something solid to hang on to. But no more. Today, both consumers and retailers have latched onto the notion of giving a gift card, so that the recipient can purchase the gift of choice, instead of returning the giver’s idea of such a gift.
It definitely has merits. Gift cards remove the fretting and fuming about what to buy. They can be bought at the last minute, online or in stores. They are small to wrap and don’t require extra ribbon or tape.
At the same time, are they as thoughtful? Do they convey the same message as an actual gift that may or may not suit the recipient but which the giver took time and energy to purchase and wrap? Are they personal enough?
I don’t have definitive answers for these questions; I only know that when I use gift cards it’s because I haven’t paid special attention to comments from those I’m gifting as to what they like or need. So, in a way, it’s the lazy way out. And maybe with all the hustle and bustle at this time of year, that’s what gift cards really have going for them.
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