Gift Cards Unredeemed Gift Cards

Gift Cards

Unredeemed Gift Cards

The article is about a survey which was conducted which revealed that there are a large number of gift cards which are bought each year that are never redeemed. The article discusses the fact that many people buy gift cards as gifts for friends and family as an easy solution when they are unsure of what to buy as a gift. A study which was conducted by Consumer Reports magazine showed that there are a large number of these which are never used for a variety of reasons. There were a number of reasons for the gift coupons not being redeemed. The main reason which was identified was that 58% of gift card receivers reported not having enough time to go and spend the coupons. A further 35% of respondents claimed that there was nothing in the store that the gift vouchers were for which they wanted to buy. Other reasons for not using the vouchers included people forgetting about them, the card being lost or the card having expired.

The report revealed that in all around a quarter of all gift cards bought each year are not redeemed. This amounted to a total of around $8 billion, which if accurate would indicate that these unused cards would be a good source of profit for businesses participating in the card schemes. Some businesses have however refuted claims that the numbers of unused cards are as high as those suggested. Wal-Mart claimed that they always have a high rate of take-up on gift cards due to the ease of finding something for everyone's tastes in their stores. There have also been bans in expiry dates and fees in order to decrease any possible abuses which may take place within the industry. Despite this, the survey also claimed that the number of unused cards was actually increasing, with numbers greater this year than last year.

Paradigm Approach

This article takes the neo-conservative approach. This can be seen in the social beliefs which are implied in the article. The article appears to be in favor of freedom from government coercion, as it appears to support the idea that the business should be able to exploit the situation if they so wish. The article also appears to support the use of a free market and competitive capitalism, which are economic beliefs reflective of the neo-conservative paradigm. The view of social welfare appears to be hostile in the article, as it appears to support the view that it is the customer's decision if they choose not to redeem the gift certificates and that they should be given no financial dispensation should they go unused.

The article does however support the view that although the businesses should be able to profit from people not redeeming their gift cards, there should be measures in place to ensure that businesses are not allowed to abuse the system. This is in contrast to liberalism, the other paradigm which focuses on the business perspective, as there is no model proposed to monitor the capitalism. The article instead appears to be fully in favor of capitalism, as there is no negative view given as to the benefits which companies may gain from the situation.

Critical Analysis

The article is well-written overall. The article accurately reports the findings of the study which are the focus of the article. The study provides empirical evidence for the observations which are detailed in the article. There are not only the statistics reported in the article, but also a thorough explanation of what the results mean. There are also details from the study which attempt to explain the reasons behind the findings. For example the main reasons which were identified for lack of gift card redemption have been included in the article.