Gift cards once again will be a hot item this holiday shopping season and a recent consumer survey from the Retail Gift Card Association found that methods of purchase and redemption are rapidly shifting to a mix of both physical and digital. 

The association surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. consumers on their use of gift cards and preferences for giving and spending the cards. The survey also explored shoppers' willingness to embrace new gifting options such as mobile and e-gift cards, as well whether shoppers preferred traditional or mobile wallets to hold gift card value. 

RGCA's findings include:

• Mobile wallets and e-gift awareness are on the rise. Whereas last holiday season only 4 percent of consumers knew how to redeem an e-gift card, 50 percent now said they know how. Additionally, a third of consumers are "very comfortable" using e-gift cards and only 29 percent have never used one. Furthermore, less than half (46 percent) of consumers insist on using physical cards with the other 54 percent open to using mobile wallets, a 27 percent increase from last holiday season. 
• Gift cards are always in demand and good for business: The majority (89 percent) of consumers don't require a sale or promotion to purchase a gift card, a 13 percent increase from last year. Seventy-three percent of shoppers who purchase gift cards also do some shopping for themselves, a 12 percent increase from last year, and of this group, nearly three-quarters will spend more than $20 in addition to the gift card. Most consumers plan to give more than one gift card with 61 percent of the total gift card spend more than $50.
• Omnichannel is key for purchasing and redemption: Sixty-three percent of shoppers like the option of giving either physical gift cards or e-gifts, and 71 percent said it was important that the recipient can use the card either online or in person. Thirty-seven percent of gift card recipients redeem their gifts in-store, 15 percent online and 40 percent use a combination of both. 
• Gift cards will again be popular holiday gift choices: About three in four consumers (73 percent) plan to give at least one gift card this holiday season, a slight increase from last season. 
• Consumers value safe shopping flexibility: The No. 1 reason shoppers like to give or receive gift cards is that they safely allow end users to purchase what they want. Consumers also like them because gift cards are convenient for the gift giver and recipient alike.
• Physical gift cards still reign supreme: Most shoppers still prefer to give physical gift cards, and the most common denomination is between $25 and $50 whether the card is preloaded or comes with a variable load option. 

"Gift cards provide shoppers and recipients with safe, convenient, and versatile gift choices, so we are not surprised to find that most Americans will be buying and hoping to receive them this holiday season," said Timm Walsh, board chairman of the RGCA. "We have seen an exploding adoption and awareness of digital options like e-gifts and mobile wallets, and are fully expecting ever-evolving payments technology to continue to impact how consumers want to buy and redeem gift cards." 

The RGCA consumer gift card study was conducted via online survey in October 2015 with more than 1,000 adult respondents. The sample was representative of the adult U.S. population in terms of education, income, and gender.