According to our research, there are over 10 Million people in US who exchange gifts by shopping and/or researching the Internet. This estimate being more than 9 months old, needs to be revised upwards due to the rise in internet social trends and recovery of economy.
According to another old research data, as much as 4% of household income is spared on gift exchanges. So gifting is serious business. But during 2012, according to CNN reporting, the returned items to the stores via the gift receipts where 35 Billions, doubling the number since 2008 same season. That clearly points towards a deficit on what people buy for others as gift and how others value them – at least 35 Billions worth of these gifts were not valued at all.
The gifts among family & friends on a regular basis involves 3 occasions — first Christmas & Holidays, second being Birthdays & Anniversaries and last one involving casual exchanges when invited by friends and acquaintances on special occasions such as marriages, dinners and business parties.
In our research, we have found that the attitude towards gifting is very genuine and involves the individuals personally. We have found following to be top 5 reasons for gift exchanges among our site’s users –
- Make friends & family feel good (token of appreciation)
- Returning the favor (carrying on the obligations)
- Building stronger bonds (glue)
- Giving because we feel good
