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Corporate gifting statistics (2026): 34 numbers with sources

North American companies spent an average of $921 per person on merchandise, gift card and event gift rewards in 2024, and 75% of employees say they’d love to choose their own gift.

KraftyLab TeamUpdated 8 min read

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Two employees pack rows of plain gift boxes with steel tumblers, coffee beans and blank cards on a long office table

KraftyLab sends corporate gifts and runs kit workshops for teams, and these are the 34 corporate gifting statistics we lean on: how much companies spend, what employees and clients actually want, and when gifts should land. Each line names its source, surveys run by gifting companies are labeled as such, and the full list sits at the end.

How much companies spend on corporate gifts

Per-gift and per-person budgets from incentive research, a rewards platform and gift-buyer surveys.

What employees want from a corporate gift

Choice, a personal touch and something worth keeping, from 2025 and 2026 surveys.

Client gifts and employee gifts

Who companies gift, and what gifts do for business relationships.

When to send corporate gifts, and the rules that set budgets

When people want gifts to land, the 2026 shipping cutoffs and the US tax limit.

A woman on her front steps in autumn smiles at the card from a gift box that was just delivered

Do corporate gifts make a difference?

What employees report, and what controlled studies found.

What to do with these numbers

Five habits the research points to for this year's gifts.

  • Give a choice, or give a shared moment. Most employees want to pick; the alternative that works is one experience the whole team does together.
  • Spend on quality, not size. A bad gift reads worse than none, and in the field experiment a real gift beat cash of the same value.
  • Keep the logo small. Branded merchandise rated lowest of seven reward types; put the logo on the ribbon or a card instead.
  • Aim for mid-to-late December. That is when most employees want gifts, so order early enough to beat the December 17 and 18 mail cutoffs.
  • Leave nobody out. Nearly half of employees get no holiday gift, so cover contractors and remote staff on the same list.

Our corporate holiday gifts are chocolate boxes and collections from $22 to $432, shipped to every home with your note, with 2026 order-by dates for December. To weigh other options, see our roundup of the best corporate gifting companies.

Or make the gift an experience: a kit ships to every guest and a live host runs the hour, with today’s price.

Send your headcount, budget and delivery date and get a free quote.

Using these statistics in a deck or article

  • Name the publisher and year, and link the original survey page, not a roundup.
  • Say when a survey comes from a gifting or rewards company; several here do.
  • Keep the group: employees, gift buyers, reward program members and shoppers are different samples.
  • Survey answers are what people say; only the controlled studies test cause and effect.

Sources

  1. Incentive Research Foundation, Industry Outlook for 2025: Merchandise, Gift Cards, and Event Gifting, 2024. theirf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Reference-Deck-Industry-Outlook-for-2025-Merchandise-Gift-Cards-and-Event-Gifting.pdf
  2. Tremendous (rewards platform), Employee Holiday Gifting Trends: 2025 Data for 2026 Planning, 2026. www.tremendous.com/blog/employee-holiday-gifting-trends/
  3. Advertising Specialty Institute (promotional products industry group), Nationwide ASI Survey Says More Companies Giving Corporate Gifts This Season, 2018. members.asicentral.com/news/press/press-releases/december-2018/nationwide-asi-survey-says-more-companies-giving-corporate-gifts-this-season/
  4. Business.com, Corporate gift study, 2022. www.business.com/customers/corporate-gift-study
  5. Promotional Products Association International (trade association), PPAI Research: U.S. Distributor Sales Reached New Height in 2025, 2026. www.ppai.org/media-hub/ppai-research-u-s-distributor-sales-reached-new-height-in-2025-but-hampered-by-volatility/
  6. Snappy (gifting platform), Snappy Data Reveals the ROI of Thoughtful Holiday Gifting in 2025, 2025. www.snappy.com/press-releases/snappy-data-reveals-the-roi-of-thoughtful-holiday-gifting-in-2025
  7. Snappy (gifting platform), What Employees Really Want This Holiday Season: 2025 Insights, 2025. www.snappy.com/blog/what-employees-really-want-this-holiday-season-2025-insights-every-leader-needs-to-drive-stronger-results-in-2026
  8. Snappy (gifting platform), 2024 Holiday Gifting Report, 2024. www.snappy.com/press-releases/holiday-gifting-report-highlights-importance-of-holiday-gifting-in-boosting-employee-satisfaction-and-retention
  9. Custom Ink (custom products company), 2025 Employee Holiday Gift Survey, 2025. www.customink.com/about/press/holiday-gifting-survey-2025
  10. Incentive Research Foundation, Participant Preferences: Reward & Recognition Programs, 2026. theirf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026_IRF_Participant_Preferences_-eward_Recognition.pdf
  11. Deloitte, 2026 Holiday Retail Survey, 2026. www.deloitte.com/us/en/about/press-room/deloitte-holiday-spending-set-to-increase.html
  12. Sendoso (gifting platform), New data reveals gifting unlocks customer loyalty, 2024. sendoso.com/blog/new-data-reveals-gifting-unlocks-customer-loyalty/
  13. Advertising Specialty Institute (promotional products industry group), ASI Research: Promotional Products Deliver Impressions at a Fraction of a Cent, 2026. asicentral.com/press-releases/asi-research-promotional-products-deliver-impressions-at-a-fraction-of-a-cent-outrank-all-other-ad-channels/
  14. Coresight Research for GiftNow (gifting platform), Unboxed: The $258 Billion US Corporate Gifting Opportunity, 2022. investors.synchrony.com/news-events/financial-news/detail/37/rapidly-growing-corporate-gifting-market-estimated-to-reach-312-billion-by-2025-according-to-a-new-study-from-coresight-research-and-giftnow
  15. USPS, 2026 Holiday Shipping Deadlines, 2026. www.usps.com/holiday/holiday-shipping-dates.htm
  16. IRS, Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses, 2025. www.irs.gov/publications/p463
  17. Gallup and Workhuman (recognition platform), Amplifying Wellbeing at Work and Beyond Through the Power of Recognition, 2022. press.workhuman.com/press-releases/new-gallup-wellbeing-and-workplace-study-finds-employee-recognition-can-help-mitigate-322-billion-cost-of-global-turnover-and-lost-productivity/
  18. American Economic Review, The Currency of Reciprocity: Gift Exchange in the Workplace, Kube, Maréchal and Puppe, 2012. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.102.4.1644
  19. Journal of Consumer Research, Experiential Gifts Foster Stronger Social Relationships Than Material Gifts, Chan and Mogilner, 2017. doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucw067

Corporate gifting statistics FAQ

How much do companies spend on corporate gifts?

The Incentive Research Foundation found North American companies spent an average of $921 per person on merchandise, gift card and event gift rewards in 2024. For holiday gifts, the rewards platform Tremendous reports an average employee gift of $62 and a median of $25 in 2025, and a 2022 Business.com poll put the median client gift at $30.

How much should you spend on a client gift?

Clients in a 2022 Business.com poll expected gifts worth about $100, while the median company spent $30. In the US, a business can deduct up to $25 per recipient per year for gifts (IRS Publication 463), and many clients cap what they may accept. Our client gifts page covers gift limits and etiquette.

What corporate gifts do employees want most?

Choice and a personal touch. In Snappy's 2025 survey, 75% of employees said they'd love to choose their own gift, and in Custom Ink's 2025 survey 82% said a personalized gift means more. Office products ranked among the least wanted gifts, and the IRF found company-branded merchandise the least motivating reward type.

When should companies send holiday gifts?

In Snappy's 2025 survey, 84% of employees said mid-to-late December is the ideal time. USPS recommends sending Priority Mail by Friday, December 18, 2026 for Christmas delivery in the lower 48 states. For 100+ or branded gifts arriving by December 18, order between November 6 and November 20; see our corporate holiday gifts.

Do corporate gifts improve employee retention?

Employees say so: in Custom Ink's 2025 survey, 77% of those who got a gift they wanted said it made them more likely to stay. Those are self-reports. In a controlled field experiment published in the American Economic Review, nonmonetary gifts raised workers' performance far more than equal cash.

What is the best corporate gifting company?

For most teams, KraftyLab: chocolate gift boxes from $22 a box, shipped to every home or office with your note inside, plus a live-hosted party or kit workshop booked in the same place. We compare ten options in our guide to the best corporate gifting companies.

Gifts for the whole team, sorted

Send your headcount, budget and delivery date. We come back with a gift plan and a quote.

See corporate holiday giftsGet a free quote