Nearly half of all gift messages this week came from just two types of stores. Food and Beverage shops and Jewelry stores together accounted for 46% of gifting volume, a concentration that says a lot about what shoppers reach for when they want to send something meaningful.
But dig a little deeper and these two industries tell very different stories about why people give.
The Gifting Split: Everyday Treats vs. Milestone Keepsakes
Food and Beverage led all industries this week at 26% of gift messages. That's one in four gifts coming from shops selling chocolate, wine, specialty snacks, and curated boxes. The notes attached to these gifts skewed toward kind, caring language. Families writing warm birthday wishes. Friends sending just-because treats. Shoppers in the Netherlands marking a loved one's first Easter in a new home with something edible and comforting.
Jewelry stores claimed the second spot at 20%. The tone here shifted noticeably. Notes were full of love: parents picking out a necklace for a daughter's birthday, partners celebrating a first anniversary with something that lasts. Where food gifts said "I'm thinking of you," jewelry gifts said "this moment matters."
Apparel and Fashion rounded out the top three at 14%, with notes that leaned playful and personal. Children and a pet (yes, the pet got credit) sending birthday wishes to their mom alongside a clothing gift. That kind of lighthearted family energy showed up across fashion purchases all week.
Easter Gives Food Stores a Seasonal Lift
With Easter arriving this Sunday, seasonal gifting climbed to 16% of all messages, up from a 14% baseline. Eighty-five percent of those seasonal notes were tagged to Easter specifically. And Food and Beverage stores are the clearest beneficiary.
Chocolate alone appeared in 8% of all product mentions this week, and gift boxes led all product types at 15%. In Australia, where Easter gifting runs particularly strong, seasonal gifts made up 28% of all messages, nearly double the global average. The combination of Easter timing and Australia's enthusiasm created a pocket of intense activity for food-focused merchants.
Jewelry stores, by contrast, barely registered in seasonal gifting. Their strength stayed rooted in birthdays, which made up 31% of all gifting this week, and milestone celebrations like new baby gifts and anniversaries. Birthday gifting has held steady above 30% for four consecutive weeks now, providing a reliable floor for jewelry merchants regardless of what's happening on the calendar.
What This Means for Merchants
The split between these two industries reveals something useful: the occasions that drive gifting to your store shape everything, from the products shoppers choose to the words they write in their notes.
If you're a food or beverage merchant, seasonal moments like Easter are your accelerator. Shoppers already associate your products with holidays and thinking-of-you gestures. Leaning into that with seasonal packaging or curated gift sets lines up naturally with what shoppers are already doing. New baby gifts also represent 10% of all gifting this week, up from an 8% baseline, and families in France sent nearly half their gift messages for new parents. Food gifts travel well for that occasion.
If you sell jewelry, your gifting peaks around personal milestones. Birthday gifting has been remarkably consistent, and the notes shoppers write tend to be deeply personal. Offering a gift message option at checkout isn't just a nice touch for jewelry purchases. It's part of the product. When a parent writes "happy birthday, sweetheart" on a necklace order, that message carries as much weight as the piece itself.
This week in gifting:
- Food & Beverage and Jewelry stores combined for 46% of all gift messages
- Birthday gifting held above 30% for the fourth straight week
- New baby gifts rose to 10% of volume, up from 8% at baseline
- 54% of gifts crossed a border, with the UK contributing 17% of all messages
- Easter accounts for 85% of seasonal gifting ahead of this Sunday