Consumers Drive 8% lift in Holiday Gift Card Purchases Over Thanksgiving Weekend

Cyber Monday sales fall approximately 7%while third-party sales see an uptick, and in-store a downtick, but sales hold relatively consistent year-over-year

Newton, MA – December 11, 2025 – Paytronix, an Access Group Company, and the leader in guest engagement for restaurants and convenience stores, reports that restaurant gift card sales saw a consumer shift to earlier purchases over the Thanksgiving weekend with overall Black Friday and weekend sales up year-over-year. The trend toward earlier gift card purchases saw Cyber Monday sales fall approximately seven percent compared to 2024. Additionally, the average dollars loaded per card saw a significant decrease specifically on Black Friday - the concept mix also shifted with FSR card sales increasing while QSR declined in both dollars and load amounts.

In addition, Paytronix found that channel sales are evolving with third-party sales increasing and in-store sales down, as overall sales remained consistent. Specifically, corporate sales increased to $641.2 million worth of cards sold in 2025 vs. $561.5 million in 2024. Year-over-year digital sales remained flat at $7.8 million. In-store sales were slightly down with $8.6 million purchased in 2025 vs. $8.8 million in 2024 while third-party sales were up with $2.6 million sold in 2025 vs. $2 million in 2024.

“Paytronix analysis of thanksgiving weekend restaurant gift card sales zeroed in on a trend that began last year with more cards sold earlier in the weekend than had been sold the year before,” said Calen McGee, communications manager at Paytronix. “This was true both for the dollars loaded on card sold as well as for the overall number of cards sold by day.”

Dollars in Cards Sold by Day – On Black Friday $6.5 million in cards were sold in 2025 vs. $6.3 million in 2024. Overall weekend sales came in at $6.5 million for 2025 vs. $6 million 2024. Cyber Monday sales were down at $6.6 million for 2025 vs. $6.8 million for 2024.

Total Cards Sold by Day – Black Friday saw 112.8 thousand cards sold in 2025 vs 108.8 thousand in 2024. Weekend sales came in at 124.4 thousand for 2025 vs. 119.1 thousand for 2024. Cyber Monday sales were down with 131.1. thousand cards sold in 2025 vs. 141.4 thousand in 2024.

Average Dollars Loaded per Card – Paytronix found that Black Friday saw the largest trek downward with an average of $47 loaded per card in 2025 vs. $56 in 2024. Overall, the weekend average was up slightly with $52 per card in 2025 vs. $50 in 2024. Finally, Cyber Monday saw an upturn as well with an average of $49 loaded on cards in 2025 vs. $47 in 2024.

Across Food Concepts - For FSRs, Black Friday 2025 followed the overall trend with $63 loaded per card vs. $68 in 2024. The weekend was up with $65 for 2025 vs. $62 last year, and Cyber Monday also was up $63 vs $61

For QSRs, Black Friday card loads were down significantly with an average of $29 per card in 2025 vs. $40 in 2024. The weekend was flat with an average card load of $37, and Cyber Monday was flat as well at $33 loaded per card.

Paytronix also looked at the overall dollars in cards sold by concept and discovered that Breakfast QSRs sold $215.3 thousand worth of cards in 2025 vs. $190.2 thousand in 2024. FSRs sold $13.7 million in 2025 vs $12.2 million 2025. QSR sales were down with $5.7 million in 2025 vs. $6.7 million 2024.

Total Cards Redeemed by Day – Looking at redemptions, consumers were much more willing to use gift cards they have saved throughout the year with an 8.1% increase across the board.

• Black Friday saw 37.9 thousand cards redeemed in 2025 vs. 34.8 thousand in 2024.
• Over the weekend, 65.2 thousand cards were redeemed in 2025 vs. 60.8 thousand in 2024.
• On Cyber Monday, 26.5 thousand cards were redeemed vs. 24.2 thousand in 2024.

Methodology

Following trends in closed-loop restaurant gift card sales, the Paytronix Thanksgiving Holiday Card Sales Research includes data from gift card sales November 28 – December 1, 2025, including both full-service and quick-service restaurants.