The Gift-Card Economy Shoppers put $90 billion on gift cards last year. A few entrepreneurs saw an opportunity.
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As the holiday shopping season kicks off--and merchants brace for another lean year--a small group of online entrepreneurs is setting up shop around one of retail's only bright spots: The gift card.
Yes, the gift that says "I put almost no effort into this" has morphed into a $90 billion industry, according to the TowerGroup, a Massachusetts research and consulting firm. Sales of gift cards--that is, any card issued by a merchant redeemable for goods and services--jumped to $97 billion in 2007 from $57 billion in 2005. While the dollar figure dipped in 2008, First Data, a retail tracking service, found that shoppers actually bought more gift cards than the year before; they just loaded less money onto them.
"When the dust settles, we see gift cards surpassing $100 billion by 2012," said Brian Riley, research director for the TowerGroup. Online entrepreneurs who've built businesses around the phenomenon are banking on it. Here's how they're cashing in on plastic fever:
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