New Incentive Rewards Research: Evolving Budgets & Trends

Key takeaways:

📈 Companies are spending more on incentive rewards. 
💳 Gift cards are the most popular non-cash incentive.
💲 Most North American gift card incentive programs spend between $100-500 on each recipient

Incentive rewards continue to shape engagement, loyalty, and performance across industries—and their popularity is only increasing, according to new data from the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF).

The IRF’s latest study highlights that gift cards are the most popular reward for incentive programs of all shapes and sizes. Companies across the board are also increasing their reward budgets. 

In this article, we’ll explore how incentive rewards are changing, and how you can use this new research can help to develop or refine an incentive program in the coming year.

The state of non-cash incentive rewards in 2025

If you’re planning any type of customer or employee incentive program in 2025, one thing is clear: your colleagues are using and getting real results from non-cash incentives in general, and gift cards in particular.

According to the IRF’s “Industry Outlook for 2025: Merchandise, Gift Cards and Event Gifting,” gift cards top the list of preferred non-cash incentives.

This study surveyed over 400 industry professionals across North America and Europe—who spend their workdays fine-tuning reward strategies, managing employee engagement budgets, and helping their organizations to meet short-term and long-term company goals.

And the proof is in the pudding: gift cards make up the largest cohort of non-cash incentives (at 43%), gift card program retention is steadily increasing, and 55% of respondents are expecting growth in their gift card programs heading into 2025.

While types of rewards like merchandise and events still have their place, it’s gift cards that consistently deliver the goods: broad appeal, easy digital delivery, and the personal choice that recipients love.

That’s why, as we approach 2025, digital rewards and payouts remain a reliable, scalable, and highly impactful option in the incentive toolbox.

Monetary vs non-monetary rewards

While monetary incentives have their place, non-cash incentive rewards (like bulk digital gift cards) keep proving their staying power.

Whether you’re looking to boost company culture and employee recognition, improve your social media referral program, attract top talent, empower your sales team, or another specific goal, gift card rewards offer similar benefits of cash rewards, with extra perks for businesses and their recipients (more on this below).

And like IRF research makes clear, gift cards and other non-cash, more tangible rewards feel special and are genuinely appreciated by recipients.

Strategic alignment with financial priorities

The IRF’s findings show that budgets are on the upswing—a great signal of the success that gift card programs are finding.

In North America, 59% of organizations expect their reward and recognition spending to grow in 2025.

The study also highlights that organizations are moving beyond simple beyond simple giveaways and company swag. Organizations aren’t just handing out rewards; they’re choosing amounts and formats that serve bigger business goals.

Indeed, many now view incentive rewards as a way to support performance targets, strengthen financial health, and encourage the behaviors that drive results over the long haul.

This approach puts every decision—from the choice of gift card to the final spending level—under a strategic lens. Instead of going for whatever’s easiest, smart businesses now pick rewards that fit neatly into their overall plans. By making sure incentives align with financial objectives, companies transform reward programs from a “nice-to-have” into a strategic investment.

Clear data: how much to spend on incentive initiatives now

According to the IRF, most gift card programs in North American now spend between $100 and $500 per recipient. Channel programs lean toward higher-value gift cards (averaging around $180), while many employee programs stay closer to the $25–$100 range.

Meanwhile, Europe is trending to even higher gift card denominations. Average values have jumped to €182, and gift cards worth €200 or more are becoming the norm, suggesting that European organizations see a strategic advantage in going bigger with their incentives.

Of course, it’s natural to want to use other organizations to benchmark your own spending. But when developing any type of incentive program, it’s more important to set a budget that aligns with a host of considerations: employee needs, company culture, organizational goals.

In other words, the amount you need to spend to reward employees and/or incentivize sales will likely be unique to your organization. Keeping track of your program metrics can provide insight.