Who Gives and Receives the Most Last-Minute Gifts?

When it comes to giving gifts, we all have our own way of finding the perfect present for someone we care about. It’s not always easy to think of the ideal gift, and sometimes we find ourselves frustratedly trying to please people or even remembering at the last minute. But how many of us choose to do our gift shopping last minute and how do people across the country approach gift-giving?

We’ve looked at annual Google search data to help us understand the most common terms searched around gift giving, particularly last minute and unique gifts, as well as when and where in the country those terms are most likely to be searched.

Sometimes it can be easy to forget a family member’s birthday, often we’d imagine it being that cousin who moved to Ohio or your brother’s girlfriend who you’ve only met once, but our research suggests that there could be a different story here.

In order to understand who’s the most ‘forgotten family member’, we decided to directly compare search volume around the terms ‘last minute gifts for mom’ and ‘last minute gifts for dad’. These results helped us see the number of annual searches for each term, as well as the times of year when these searches were most likely to happen.

We found that there are 58% more searches for ‘last minute gifts for mom’ than ‘last minute gifts for dad’, equating to 87,360 searches for the mom term and 35,280 for the dad term over the course of a year. That’s 48,480 more searches for last minute mom gifts.

On top of these mom and dad searches, we also found 4,680 annual searches for the term ‘gift for mother-in-law who hates me’, showing that there are still some people out there who are trying to please those tricky in-laws!

As part of the research, we also took a look across the entire United States, hoping to find out the differences between states when it comes to gift giving and uncover the states most likely to leave it to the last minute.

Those living in Washington, D.C. came out on top as the most likely last-minute gift givers, with 100 searches for ‘last minute gifts’ for every 54 in Maine and 40 in Vermont, the second and third highest respectively. Making residents in Washington, D.C. 46% more likely to search online for a last-minute gift than the nearest state.

Down at the other end of the scale, Louisiana (6), Arizona (9) and South Carolina (10) had the lowest number of average searches for ‘last minute gifts’ in 2020, suggesting that they’re the most prepared places in the United States when it comes to buying gifts.

We all know that gift-giving is about much more than just being prepared and buying something nice and early. More than anyone, we believe that making sure the gift you’re purchasing is personal to the recipient is one of the most important factors.

From personalized mugs with a picture of a cherished moment, through to photo books and more, giving someone a truly bespoke gift is the perfect way to show them how much you care.

In 2020, residents of New York came out on top for making the most searches based around the term ‘personalized gifts’, with second placed New Hampshire making 90 searches to every 100 in New York, Kentucky with 86 and nearby New Jersey with 84.

Search data suggests that gift givers in Nevada (30) are least likely to look for a personalized gift, with Alaska coming just above them with 35. Having been the most likely place to find a last-minute gift giver, Washington, D.C. also ranked poorly here, coming out as the third least likely to search for a personalized gift.

Gathering all this search data gives us a clear picture that last minute gift buying is very common across the United States, and also shows that finding personalized gifts is a priority for a lot of people.

Finding the solution to these two problems can be difficult, but we’re here to help. With a wide range of personalized and bespoke products to choose from, all with quick delivery, if you need something last minute, something personal… or both, our range of products could be the answer.