The holiday season is on the horizon. I’ve already started a mental list of people I’ll be buying for this year, and once again, I’m racking my brain for “perfect gift” ideas.

Typically, I give gift cards as a last resort — I find it more exciting and gratifying to give and receive gifts that have been personally selected. A new survey from the National Research Network indicates that other people feel the same way: The perception that gift cards are impersonal is the top inhibitor for consumers purchasing gift cards, with nearly half of respondents citing it as a factor.

On a recent visit to Target.com, I realized that they now offer personalized gift cards, allowing users to upload photos or other images to their cards. Digging a little deeper, I found a few other retailers that are also offering this option (Wal-Mart, Toys “R” Us and Starbucks to name a few).

Brandweek noted that consumers spent nearly 18 percent of their 2006 total holiday merchandise gift expenditures on gift cards, up from 13 percent in 2005, per the International Council of Shopping Centers. Among other findings in the study:

• Discount stores such as Wal-Mart and Target were the most popular gift card benefactors, with 42 percent of respondents reporting purchasing a discount-store card in the past year. Restaurants came in second (26 percent), followed by clothing stores (21 percent);
• More females (60 percent) than males (44 percent) reported buying cards in the last year;
• The average number of gift cards consumers receive tends to correlate with household income. As household income increases, consumers tend to purchase more gift cards;
• Christmas and birthdays were cited as the top occasions for gift card giving;
• This holiday season, younger consumers are expected to buy gift cards, with 78 percent between the ages of 18-24;
• Fifteen percent of gift card recipients spend less than the total gift card amount.

Will customization add that personal touch that sometimes seems to be missing in gift cards?

Personally, I think this is a great new product feature for those of us who prefer to add an extra touch to our gifts.