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New Data Reveals Two Distinct Waves of Holiday Gift Card Spending

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Cite

New Data Reveals Two Distinct Waves of Holiday Gift Card Spending. (2026, September 29). Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/globenewswire/new-data-reveals-two-distinct-waves-of-holiday-gift-card-spending/article_cca5384f-6750-50a5-9092-ede731288af4.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-29 · by GlobeNewswire, Inc.

Quick Summary

Giftbit analyzed reward activity from its platform for 2025 and found that businesses experience two distinct waves of gift card spending during the holiday season. The first wave occurs in November when companies invest heavily in customer loyalty programs. A second surge happens in December, with a focus on internal employee recognition as the year comes to an end. The report details how these patterns reflect different business priorities across the months.
Written by AI on 2026-09-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Giftbit, a global digital rewards provider, analyzed its platform data from January through December 2025 to identify two distinct waves of business reward activity during the holiday season. According to their findings, loyalty rewards among businesses peaked in November, aligning with efforts to engage customers before the holiday shopping rush. The second wave occurred in December, characterized by a sharp increase in employee recognition as companies concluded the year internally. This pattern reflects shifting priorities from external customer engagement to internal team appreciation over the course of the year-end period.

Written for “Holiday Gift Card Trends” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Holiday Gift Card Trends
Other · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
6
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
17%
1 of 6 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Other
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-29 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

No reporter is named on this article, beyond the feed's “GlobeNewswire, Inc.”.

Topics

British Columbia GLOBE NEWSWIRE Giftbit VICTORIA

Subjects

Giftbit ORG · 2× British Columbia GPE · 1× GLOBE NEWSWIRE ORG · 1× VICTORIA GPE · 1×

Narrative

Giftbit, a global digital rewards provider, analyzed reward activity on its platform from January through December 2025 to reveal two distinct year-end waves in business reward activity.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-29
2026-09-29 · Toronto Star
New Data Reveals Two Distinct Waves of Holiday Gift Card Spending · assertive framing

Claims (6 extracted, 1 hedged)

Giftbit, a global digital rewards provider, analyzed reward activity on its platform from January through December 2025 to reveal two distinct year-end waves in business reward activity. asserted
Giftbit → analyze → activity
Loyalty rewards peak in November, followed by a sharp surge in employee recognition in December. asserted
rewards → peak → December
The study compares monthly reward value, types, and claim behavior across Giftbit’s global customer base. uncertain
study → compare → base
The rewards pattern reflects two separate business cycles. asserted
pattern → reflect → cycles
In November, before the holiday shopping season peaks, companies invest in customer loyalty and engagement. asserted
companies → invest → loyalty
By December, focus flips inward as companies close out the year recognizing internal teams. asserted
companies → flip → teams
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