Gift Cards Rise to First Place When the Holiday Calendar Clears

When Father's Day passed last Sunday, it took the holiday playbook with it. Books and shirts, which together commanded more than a third of all gifted products during the countdown, fell back sharply. In their place, something more open-ended rose: gift cards now tie for the single most-gifted product this week, matching greeting cards at 13% each.

It's a quiet shift with a loud message. When no holiday tells shoppers what to buy, many of them hand the choice to the recipient.

Gift cards tied for the most-gifted product this week. When no holiday dictates the choice, shoppers give recipients the freedom to decide.

The post-holiday product mix favors flexibility

Two weeks ago, on Father's Day itself, books led all products at 20% and shirts held 21% the week before that. This week, books sit at 12% and shirts at 8%. Neither disappeared, but neither dominates anymore. The top of the product chart is now remarkably flat: cards at 13%, gift cards at 13%, books at 12%, wrap at 10%, necklaces at 10%, boxes at 9%, bracelets at 9%.

That flatness is the story. No single product owns the moment. Shoppers are spreading their choices across a wider range, and the biggest winner is the product that says "you pick." Birthday gifting leads all occasions at 31% this week, and just-because gifts sit at 21%. Both are occasions where the giver often isn't sure exactly what the recipient wants. Gift cards solve that uncertainty.

In Malta, where thank-you gifts account for 41% of all gifting this week, friends are sending birthday wishes with candles and small tokens. In the UK, where birthdays command 64% of all gifting, shoppers are pairing spirits gift sets with celebratory notes. The product choices are personal, varied, and tied to the relationship rather than a calendar date.

Jewelry holds steady while apparel fades

Necklaces and bracelets together account for 19% of all gifted products this week. That share barely moved from the Father's Day period, even as apparel collapsed from its holiday peak. Jewelry doesn't rely on a specific occasion to stay relevant. Family members are sending jewelry for birthdays, partners are marking anniversaries, and friends are using it to say thank you.

Jewelry stores now lead all industries at 19% of gifting volume, just ahead of food and beverage at 18%. Fashion and apparel, which surged during Father's Day, has settled back to 16%. The difference: jewelry's product base (necklaces, bracelets, rings) serves emotional gifting year-round, while apparel's spike was holiday-specific.

The presentation layer also held its ground. Cards, wrap, wrapping, and boxes together make up 39% of all gifted products. Shoppers continue to invest in how a gift looks and feels when it arrives, regardless of whether there's a holiday driving the purchase. Parents in Belgium are sending craft kits and dolls to children with loving notes. Families in the US are pairing spiritual keepsakes with deeply personal messages for young relatives. The wrapping and the card are part of the gift itself.

What this means for merchants

The weeks between holidays are not slow weeks for gifting. They're just different. Without a seasonal occasion concentrating purchases into a narrow product set, shoppers browse more widely and lean toward flexible options. Merchants who stock gift cards and emphasize them during these quieter periods are meeting a genuine need: the shopper who wants to give something meaningful but isn't sure what the recipient would choose.

For stores that sell jewelry, the post-holiday lull barely registers. Necklaces and bracelets hold their share because the occasions they serve (birthdays, anniversaries, just-because) never go away. And for every store, investing in the presentation layer pays dividends. Nearly four in ten gifted products this week were cards, wrapping, or boxes. The gift note and the packaging aren't afterthoughts. They're core to why someone chooses one store over another.