2025 Gift Card Industry Report Released
Members can download the full report while non-members have access to the Executive Summary
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – May 20, 2025 – The
Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) undertook an extensive year-long global research project to deliver data that is designed to empower members and non-members with actionable incentive and recognition insights. The report, known as the
Incentive & Recognition Insights 2025, synthesizes insights from over 600 executives worldwide, offering comprehensive global benchmarks and trends for organizations looking to optimize their incentive and recognition strategies.
“We hoped this study would give the IMA a unified voice to represent the global industry, strengthening our brand identity and providing value to our members, new and existing,” says Fintan Connolly, Consultant at Engage Loyalty, Research Chair, and past President of IMA Global. “We ran a comprehensive survey to get hard numbers and benchmarks, and we collected open-ended feedback and regional insights so we could capture the stories and context behind the numbers."
The global report provides an overview of the incentive and recognition market, with regional, industry specific, and benchmark comparisons, allowing members of the IMA to share cross-market knowledge. As part of the global report, nine exclusive reports were developed, providing domain and geographic-region-specific insights. This includes four geographic reports, covering North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, helping organizations localize their strategies while aligning with global standards. There are also five industry reports tailored towards the perspective of each industry's specific offerings, challenges and trends. These include Gift Cards, Merchandise, Solution Providers, Travel, and Recognition Professionals.
Sample of data from the Gift Card industry report.
The Gift Card Industry report features insights from over 290 Gift Card specialists, delivering industry specific benchmarks. “Benchmarking is critical for the gift card industry,” says Hollis Thornton, CPIM, SVP Client Success, TOTUS. “Understanding trends and future outlook helps gift card program managers make educated decisions on where to focus their business. This type of research has been needed, and I was honored to be a small part of the effort.”
As to the data representing a global market, Connolly commented, "I was struck by how aligned many of the trends were across all the reports, whether by region or sector. For example, the push toward more personalized, digital incentive programs came up everywhere, which tells me these are truly global shifts. At the same time, we saw unique nuances in each region, different popular reward types or local challenges, showing that local context still matters even as our industry becomes more globally unified."
The Incentive & Recognition Insights 2025 report was made possible through the support of IMA Research Partners, Blackhawk Network (BHN), Touch Incentive, and Hinda Incentives and IMA Research Supporter, Tillo. Their support enabled the IMA to scale the study globally, offering reliable statistics, real-world examples, and strategic insight for helping grow the incentive marketplace. The survey was conducted among incentive professionals, both members and non-members, exploring the past, present, and future sentiment of both the organizations running incentive and recognition programs and the broader industry ecosystem.
Access to the study is available for IMA members and is available for download on the Incentive Marketing Association website.