14 DAY TRIAL // Giftmeister, a service that, as its name implies, seeks to offer its users the best possibilities for their gift giving, has released information that suggests that video games and gaming consoles are the most sought after gifts for its user base of about 20,000 people.
38% of those using the site are saying that they have picked up either a video game or a piece of hardware over the last 30 days with the intention of giving it away when the holidays roll around, with the video game industry edging out other technology based gift options like digital cameras, MP3 players, smartphones and e-readers.
When the site screened out male customers cameras became the most popular gift option.
When recommending gifts, the site takes into account the gender, the age and the personality of the recipient and the budget allocated by the person doing the giving.
Among video gaming related gifts, the Kinect motion tracking device for the Xbox 360 has been the most popular among Giftmesiter users with the iPad coming in second place.
Microsoft has stated Kinect will move more than 4 million units before the end of 2010.
The PlayStation 3 makes an appearance in fifth place when it comes to gift giving.
Giftmeister also found that 66 percent of those who use the site are planning to allocate less than 100 dollars for their gift giving while just 6% are prepared to spend more than 500.
Back in October, the NPD Group reported that just 15 percent of consumers were planning to get a video game console for the holidays, down from 20% at the same time during 2009.
The video game industry traditionally relies heavily on incomes from the Christmas shopping season to generate revenue and go into the black, with most of the blockbusters of the year traditionally clustered for launch in October and November.