Gift cards have been touted as the one-size-fits-all gift idea for years, and this holiday season, shoppers will spend record amounts on them. According to NRF’s Gift Card Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, holiday shoppers will spend an average of $163.16 on gift cards, 4% above the $156.86 they spent last year and the highest amount in the survey’s 11-year history.

This season, four out of every five shoppers (80.6%) will look to add gift cards to their baskets, according to the survey. Total spending on gift cards is expected to reach $29.8 billion.

“Shoppers today recognize gift cards as the perfect, fool-proof option for friends and family,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “And traditional gift cards aren’t the only winners this holiday season—as more and more Americans are tied to their mobile devices, we expect digital gift cards to be especially popular with consumers.”

According to NRF’s first 2013 holiday survey, released in October, three in five (59.4%) of those polled said they’d like to receive gift cards this year, the seventh year in a row gift cards have topped celebrants’ wish lists.

Consumers will also spend more on the gift cards they buy—an average $45.16 per card, up from $43.75 last year and another survey high. Shoppers older than 65 will spend the most on gift cards at an average of $175.96, followed by those age 35-44 who will spend $171.15 on average. Additionally, men will spend nearly $20 more than women on gift cards this holiday season ($171.35 vs. $155.42, respectively).

“Gift givers know that many of their loved ones may have been holding back on spending on themselves all year long, and would love nothing more than to receive a gift card that allows them to purchase whatever they want,” said Prosper’s Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow. “Shoppers hoping to add an extra touch to their gift cards will have plenty of opportunities to add audio, video or image enhancements to select retailers’ gift cards, making even the smallest gift still very personal.”

When it comes to why people do or don’t buy gift cards, many agree (43.1%) that letting the recipient choose their own gift is what influences their purchases. However, some still feel gift cards are too impersonal (25.3%).

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