Gift, home accent market shows strong growth

The market for gifts and home accents reached $65.2 billion in 2007, according to a new study conducted by Unity Marketing. Overall, the market grew 72 percent from 2002, rising from $37.9 billion five years ago.

“One of the most powerful findings of this new research study of the giftware market is how dramatically it has changed from 2002,” said Pam Danziger, Unity Marketing president. “The giftware market has completely reinvented itself in the past five years. What was hot five years ago has gone frigidly cold. And what is hot today was barely measurable five years ago. The most successful giftware marketers have stayed on top of trends, moving as the consumers’ interest changed and their shopping destinations shifted.”

Successful companies must continually offer new, distinctly different products, Danziger said. Merchandise must also be available at multiple shopping destinations. One notable change uncovered by the study is how often shoppers are turning to the Internet to purchase gifts and home accents. In 2007, online retail sites were the second most important shopping venue, trailing only discount department stores.

Fewer shoppers are turning to specialty gift and card stores for their purchases. In 2007, specialty stores accounted for 7 percent of overall giftware sales. The number of specialty gift shops has declined 21 percent in the past five years, according to Unity Marketing’s study.

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For more: Unity Marketing, (717) 336-1600; www.unitymarketingonline.com.

June 2008