What is the current situation of the gift card market in 2025?
The global gift card market has reached a new scale. The United States already accounts for nearly €280 billion, with a trajectory towards €300 billion by 2032 (+6% CAGR). Asia follows closely with around €230 billion today and could reach €310 billion by 2032 (+10%), driven by the widespread adoption of mobile wallets and a strong gifting culture. Europe, for its part, represents around €88 billion in 2025, with projections exceeding €110 billion by 2032 (+7%). Even smaller regions, such as the United Arab Emirates and Africa (around €3 billion today, +10%), are showing rapid growth dynamics.
Beyond volume, however, the nature of the market is evolving. Gift cards are no longer simply a gifting product. They are becoming a strategic value-creation infrastructure at the intersection of commerce, payments and loyalty, increasingly driven by digital adoption and B2B use cases. In this context of market maturity and accelerating professionalisation, the French market is also entering a new phase. Understanding its specific dynamics across B2C, B2B and B2B2C is now essential to identify where real performance is created and how to capture it.
What about the French market?
Overview of the gift card market in France
Overall, the French gift card market is performing well in 2025. While mature, it still has room to catch up in certain areas such as digitalisation, B2B adoption and fintech integration. The market is estimated at around €8.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach approximately €10.8 billion by 2029 (CAGR ~5.8%).
Consumer adoption continues to accelerate. Around 62% of French consumers have already purchased a gift card, with an average of five gift cards bought per household. The average face value in B2C stands at around €65, slightly down compared with last year due to the broader economic and political environment and global uncertainty.
Physical gift cards remain widely used, but digital gift cards are gaining ground. Brands therefore have a strong incentive to design truly omnichannel journeys.
With these levels of performance, France ranks third in Europe for gift card sales volume, just behind the United Kingdom (first) and Germany (second).
The rise of digital and omnichannel gift cards
The acceleration of digitalisation is directly impacting gift card sales. In 2025, 45% of gift cards in France are purchased in digital format, with adoption growing 2.5 times faster than physical cards. In markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, digital gift card sales have already surpassed physical cards.
This transition is driven by several factors: increasing consumer demand for instant solutions, the integration of gift cards into mobile wallets, and the rise of omnichannel usage. Today, 53% of cards purchased online are redeemed in-store, while 22% of cards purchased in-store are used online.
In this context, gift cards must become truly omnichannel, just like modern e-commerce and retail standards. Omnichannel does not simply mean “being present online and in-store.” It requires a seamless and uninterrupted customer experience, including:
· online purchase → in-store redemption
· in-store purchase → online redemption
· unified customer service
· consistent return and exchange policies
· a balance that can be checked and used everywhere
This continuity is what ultimately drives adoption, real usage and, ultimately, value creation.
Actions to implement
· Ensure a seamless experience between online purchase and in-store redemption
· Optimise gift card visibility across all sales channels, especially online
· Expand and optimise digital gift cards, including the ability to store them in mobile wallets
Top 3 B2C sectors
· Cosmetics & Fragrance
· Retail & Grocery
· Tourism & Travel
Top-up: a key driver of growth
In other words, even when the face value decreases, consumers are increasingly willing to spend beyond the initial amount of their gift card in order to access a more desirable, higher-quality or more complete product.
This dynamic relies on a well-known psychological effect: a gift card is perceived as already-available budget, which encourages trading up, adding items and making more emotional purchases. The gift card therefore becomes a basket trigger rather than a spending ceiling. Value is no longer created at the moment the card is purchased, but when it is redeemed.
This dynamic is particularly strong in several sectors:
· Cosmetics: 85% of transactions generate an additional payment
· Home & Decoration: 81%
· Tourism: 70%
· Sport: 68%
Key actions to capture this value
· Implement spending activation mechanisms for gift card holders: targeted emails, mobile wallet notifications, and easy visibility of remaining balances
· Optimise merchandising both online and in-store to encourage complementary purchases, trading up and higher basket sizes (curated selections, bundles, recommendations and product highlights).
Breakage and real value: the battle is shifting toward usage
Historically, breakage, the share of value that remains unspent, has long been analysed as a simple financial indicator. In B2C, it remains structurally high, averaging around 11%, and can reach close to 20% in certain sectors. In France, however, the phenomenon is evolving: there are fewer completely unused cards, but more partially redeemed cards with residual balances that remain dormant.
In other words, the challenge is no longer only about card validity, but about usage friction. Some sectors , including home & decoration, sport, cosmetics and tourism, are particularly affected by this dynamic. The key drivers of value creation are therefore shifting toward UX, reminder mechanisms, wallet integration, merchandising and purchase guidance.
The market is gradually moving away from a volume logic (“how many cards are issued”) toward a value logic (“how much value is created at redemption”).
In practical terms, the new strategic indicators are becoming:
· top-up (additional payment)
· repeat purchase
· reactivation
· customer lifetime value (LTV)
· the real incremental value generated by the channel
Actions to implement
· Simplify gift card usage by making balances accessible everywhere (customer account, mobile wallet, customer service, in-store and e-commerce).
· Implement targeted reminders (email, SMS, notifications) to encourage redemption, reduce dormant balances and stimulate top-up.
· Optimise merchandising online and in-store to guide customers toward products that naturally trigger additional spending.
· Unify the omnichannel experience to ensure full continuity between purchase, redemption, returns and customer service.
· Measure performance based on value created at redemption (top-up, repeat purchase, reactivation, LTV) rather than solely on the number of cards issued.
A strong anchor in B2B and loyalty
The gift card market is largely driven by the B2B segment, which now represents more than two-thirds of transactions. In 2025, the average value of a direct B2B order has increased to €16,000, confirming that large companies increasingly rely on gift cards to reward and engage their employees.
On the distribution side, HR platforms and employee benefit programmes account for 68% of B2B sales, with extremely fast spending cycles: 80% of gift cards are used within one month. Even more interesting, half of redeemed gift cards generate an additional payment averaging €58.
Gift cards are also increasingly integrated into loyalty programmes, representing 19% of total flows. Around 10% of consumers redeem their loyalty points for gift cards, a trend that continues to grow as consumers seek to optimise their budgets. In fact, 87% of consumers consider gift cards to be a relevant reward within loyalty programmes.
Other third-party partners should also be considered. Channels such as e-tailers, marketplaces and cash-to-web platforms account for around 12% of flows. These channels often involve higher-value gift cards and help increase brand accessibility and visibility among a broader audience.
At the same time, commissions are declining, falling on average from 11% to 9%, with sharper decreases in certain sectors (cosmetics −3 points, home & decoration −9 points, sport −1 point, food −1 point). In a context where e-commerce and retail are maturing, growth is becoming more expensive and margins are under pressure. Brands are therefore increasingly questioning the real incremental value delivered by these channels. Unless incrementality is clearly demonstrated (new customers, top-up, repeat purchase), commissions tend to be perceived as a compressible cost rather than a marketing investment.
In this context of multi-channel distribution and margin pressure, B2B2C partners are repositioning themselves as media platforms, offering sponsored visibility formats such as featured placements, banners, newsletters and special campaigns. Brands are accelerating their investments in these formats, especially during key commercial periods. The objective is clear: maximise visibility and stimulate both gift card sales and downstream purchases as close as possible to the moment of purchase.
Another factor that will increasingly play in your favour is API connectivity. Distributors and resellers are progressively moving toward 100% API-based integrations in the coming years in order to reduce financial and security risks while eliminating time-consuming manual processes.
Top 3 sectors for gift card distribution
· Retail & Grocery
· Cosmetics & Fragrance
· Tourism & Travel
Gift cards remain seasonal but are becoming embedded in consumer habits
Gift cards are available year-round, yet their performance remains strongly correlated with key commercial moments. Christmas now accounts for 44% of annual sales, with extreme concentration: 52.9% of December sales occur during the final seven days before the holidays. Even though 68% of purchases are planned, the gift card still plays a strong role as a catch-up and last-minute purchase, particularly among younger consumers and in situations of time pressure.
Other peak periods follow the same pattern of concentration:
· Mother’s Day: 27.94% of May sales concentrated around the event
· Father’s Day: 23.44% of June sales
· Black Friday / Cyber Monday: 29.71% of November sales
· Back-to-school and Valentine’s Day also play a meaningful role depending on the sector
However, gift cards are no longer limited to these seasonal peaks. Consumers now purchase an average of five gift cards per year, and everyday micro-moments (a forgotten birthday, a last-minute invitation, a thank-you gesture, a small spontaneous gift) represent a largely untapped growth opportunity. Brands themselves are evolving: more and more are working on gift card visibility not only during peak periods but also continuously throughout the year.
The challenge is therefore no longer simply to be present “at the right moment”, but to:
create a reflex for consumers (“if I’m late, I’ll buy a gift card”°
· remind customers of the option during everyday micro-moments
· increase the probability of conversion in situations of time pressure
In short, gift card performance does not rely solely on the calendar. It also depends on brand mental availability and continuous presence across customer journeys (website, app, email, wallet, store and customer service).
Actions to implement
· Launch targeted campaigns around micro-moments (birthdays, family events) as well as major commercial periods
· Strengthen presence across all communication channels with visuals adapted to each occasion
· Capitalise on last-minute purchases with “express” campaigns and digital formats available in just a few clicks
Integration into Marketing Campaigns: An Underexploited Lever
Despite its potential, the gift card is still insufficiently integrated into many brands’ marketing strategies. Yet it addresses several key objectives at once: acquisition, loyalty, basket growth and traffic generation.
In B2C, gift cards are already used as marketing and service tools beyond gifting. In 2025, gifted cards represent 7% of volumes, with an average face value of €47, and 41% generate an additional payment averaging €52. This structure, stable year after year, confirms that this is not a temporary trend but a well-established usage.
More broadly, we are witnessing a convergence between commerce, finance and loyalty. The rise of wallets, reloadable cards, brand credits and hybrid programmes combining points and benefits is blurring the line between paying, rewarding, storing value and building loyalty.
In this context, gift cards should no longer be viewed as a simple payment method. They are becoming a branded currency: a unit of value specific to the brand, stored, managed and activated over time. They enable the creation of true customer value accounts (credits, benefits, reimbursements, incentives) and support recurring engagement mechanisms that go far beyond one-off purchases.
Key actions for brands
· Integrate gift cards into acquisition strategies (welcome offers, influencer campaigns, special promotions)
· Use them as loyalty and gamification levers (conditional rewards, spending thresholds)
· Activate them within communities and CRM or customer service programmes
· Deploy a truly omnichannel approach to simplify adoption and optimise customer journeys.
Two structural trends: platformisation and AI
The gift card market is entering a phase of platformisation and consolidation. In an increasingly complex ecosystem (B2B2C, wallets, APIs, compliance, data, omnichannel), value is shifting toward infrastructure platforms capable of orchestrating value flows, multi-channel distribution, regulatory compliance, performance data and integration with information systems (payments, CRM, ERP, HRIS).
The market is moving from “card sellers” to operators of value ecosystems. In 2025, the gift card is no longer simply a product; it is a strategic infrastructure for value creation, driven by usage and data.
At the same time, artificial intelligence is opening a new cycle of optimisation, even though its adoption in the sector is still emerging. Its potential is significant across three main areas: fraud prevention, experience personalisation (content, visuals, messaging), and journey optimisation through advanced analysis of usage data. As these technologies become more widely adopted, they will further accelerate the market shift from a volume-based model (cards issued) to a value-based model (value created at redemption).
In Summary
In 2025, the gift card is no longer simply a product. It is a value infrastructure at the intersection of commerce, finance and loyalty.
B2C remains a powerful event-driven engine.
B2B is becoming a structural pillar of HR and incentive strategies.
B2B2C sits at the heart of distribution but must realign with the value actually created.
The winners will be those able to manage usage, data, compliance and customer experience, not just distribution.
Gift card performance by sector
Explore in more detail the 2024 gift card performance by retail and e-commerce sectors:
Food, Restauration & Beverages
FAQ: The Gift Card Market in France
What is the size of the French gift card market in 2025?
The French gift card market reaches approximately €8.6 billion in 2025, with projections around €10.8 billion by 2029, representing an average annual growth rate of about 5.8%.
What share of gift cards is digital in France?
In 2025, around 45% of gift cards are purchased in digital format in France. This share continues to grow with the expansion of e-commerce, mobile wallets and omnichannel journeys.
What is the average value of a gift card in France?
The average face value of a B2C gift card in France is approximately €65 in 2025, slightly lower due to consumer budget arbitrage in the current economic context.
Do consumers spend more than the value of their gift card?
Yes. In many sectors, consumers exceed the initial value of the card. For example, 85% of transactions in cosmetics and 81% in home and decoration generate an additional payment.
What role does B2B play in the gift card market?
The B2B segment represents more than two-thirds of the market, particularly through employee reward, incentive and benefit programmes. The average value of a direct B2B order reaches around €16,000 in 2025.
Are gift cards a seasonal product?
Sales remain highly concentrated around certain peak periods. Christmas accounts for around 44% of annual sales, with more than half of purchases occurring during the final week before the holidays.
