Giving the gift of gasoline

Commodity inflation finally meets the electronic age of Christmas consumerism in the U.S. as this Bloomberg story details another interesting sign of the times.

Spending on holiday gift cards may climb 25 percent to $35 billion this year, according to Archstone Consulting LLC, boosted by cards that aid consumers contending with higher food and fuel costs and the deepest housing slump since 1991. That tops some estimates for holiday sales on Web sites.

Gift cards that pay for gasoline at Exxon Mobil Corp. stations, groceries at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. or medical bills through health-insurer Highmark Inc. will help increase the category to 5.9 percent of total U.S. holiday spending this year, according to Stamford, Connecticut-based Archstone. That's up from 4.9 percent in 2006.

"The practical usage of gift cards is the biggest story this year, due to economic fears of many consumers and tighter budgets," said Heather Dougherty, director of research at Experian Group Ltd.'s Hitwise in New York, which measures Web traffic. "We see people who are searching for things like gas and grocery gift cards."
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"We've seen a cultural shift in how we view gift cards, from a thoughtless, lazy person's gift to a thoughtful gift," said Scott Krugman, a National Retail Federation spokesman. "It's becoming a practical gift for practical purposes."

It's too bad that the $25 gift card above will only buy about a half a tank of gas.