Local gift card sales reached £24m in 2025, up 60% YoY, and the Aberdeen Gift Card has been named the UK’s top seller for a third year running.
The figures were released by gift card specialist Miconex, which launched its first local gift card in Perth in December 2015. The firm now operates over 200 multi-store and multi-sector local gift card programmes, including 97 in the UK, 16 in Ireland and Downtown Gift Cards initiatives in Canada and the USA.
Aberdeen was home to the best-selling local gift card in the UK with almost £800,000 worth of sales. The card can be used at a variety of stores in the city, including Cults Stores Keystore, Scotmid Co-op Bucksburn, Spar Clifton Road and the Co-op on Countesswells Road.
The local gift card sales figures align to November 2025 data from the Gift Card & Voucher Association (GCVA) finding that almost a third of UK consumers purchase gift cards to funnel support to local companies. Over a quarter of consumers purchased a gift card for others in the first half of 2025, up from 13.9% in 2024. Gift cards purchased for self-use also saw an increase in 2025.
GCVA data also shows the popularity of multi-store gift cards continues to increase, representing around 40% of sales in 2025, up from 34% in 2024, a rise that is partially attributed to a consumer hesitancy to commit to a single brand gift card.
In the UK, four places launched their own Town & City Gift Card in 2025, with six new programmes in Ireland. The local gift cards are branded to a specific town, city or district, showcasing the local offering and locking spend into local economies.
Buying physical gift cards in person was the most popular way to purchase gift cards in 2025, with almost half of consumers buying a card in this way, according to GCVA data. Miconex enhanced the accessibility of its local gift cards with the introduction of in-person sales kiosks dispensing its local gift cards in Cambridge and Inverness, and a second kiosk going live in Aberdeen.
Miconex has also increased the accessibility of its local gift cards through key partnerships announced in late 2025 with Tillo and Blackhawk Network, making Town & City Gift Cards available through the Tillo platform and by enabling One4All gift card holders to swap their One4All for a Town & City Gift Card.
Corporate sales was a key driver of gift card sales in 2025, with around 8% of people receiving a gift card from work. Miconex estimates that almost half of its £24m 2025 sales were business orders, primarily organisations purchasing local gift cards for their employees. 2025 Miconex research found that 82% of organisations said supporting local has become more important to them.
Miconex also reports a significant increase in digital gift card sales in the UK, up almost 300% in the UK, aligned to GCVA data which found that close to half (43%) of consumers want wallet-compatible gift cards.
Colin Munro, CEO of Miconex, said: “Town & City Gift Cards tap into what customers and organisations want from their gift cards – choice, support for local and ease of use. No other gift card can compete on these three factors combined.”
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “Team Aberdeen Inspired is beyond proud that the Aberdeen Gift Card has been named the best-selling in the UK for a third year running, something which is unprecedented for a local gift card.
“Every penny spent on an Aberdeen Gift Card goes back into our bricks and mortar traders – with extra spend on top of that. Having injected a total of £7.75m into the local economy is a huge achievement and I want to thank every business who has signed up and everyone who has bought an Aberdeen Gift Card.”
