Marketing

Black Friday restaurant gift-card sales increase

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December 1, 2021

Restaurant gift card sales were up on Black Friday compared to 2020, but still off their 2019 highs, according to a press release by Patronix Systems Inc.

Overall, restaurants sold 22.6% more individual gift cards in 2021 as compared with 2020. When it comes to dollars loaded on those cards, the industry saw a 43% increase across all cards, which translates to an average increase of 16.6% in dollars loaded per card. When compared to pre-pandemic numbers, restaurants this year sold 22.3% fewer cards than in 2019 and loaded 19.1% less in funds.

"It's clear that, coming out of the pandemic, people want to treat themselves and others, and are hopeful as they look into the future. Last year we saw huge drops in the sale of fine dining gift cards. That trend has not just reversed but has been entirely overcome. This suggests that people are looking forward to dining out with friends in 2022 and are ready for a spectacular guest experience," Andrew Robbins, Paytronix CEO, said in the release.

Paytronix analyzed the anonymous aggregate gift card sales for 163 brands from Friday, Nov. 26, through Sunday, Nov 28. Paytronix identified the following changes in 2021 Black Friday gift card sales when compared to those for previous years:

• Fine dining customers bought 89.1% more cards this year and 72.8% increase in amount loaded over last year with an average load of $145 per card.
• Quick service card sales declined 15% when compared with the same weekend last year and 7.9% less loaded on cards overall, but people spent $19.68 on average per card, up $1 from 2020.
• Fast casual restaurants saw a 27.9% lift in overall card sales and a 32.3% increase in funds loaded with the average card coming in at $27.96, slightly less than $1 more from the previous year.