Is a digital gift card an acceptable gift?
Short answerYes — if it's targeted. A digital Booktopia card for a reader is a thoughtful gift. A digital generic supermarket card is not.
Digital gift cards are perfectly acceptable when the card itself is specific to the recipient. The 'digital' part is irrelevant — what matters is whether the card communicates that you know what they like.
Strong digital cards: Booktopia or Kindle for a reader, Audible for a podcast/audiobook listener, Mecca for skincare-obsessed, Bunnings for a home renovator, Market Lane for a coffee fanatic, RedBalloon for an experience lover, a streaming subscription for someone who doesn't have it.
Weak digital cards: Visa, Mastercard, generic supermarket gift cards, Westfield, anything that's effectively just cash with a worse user experience.
Presentation matters more for digital than physical because there's no unwrapping moment. Don't just forward the email. Either print it, drop it into a card with a handwritten note, or send it with a personal message that explains why this card and not another one.
If you're sending purely digitally (different city, different country), the message is the gift wrap. 'I picked Booktopia because of the X book you mentioned last month' converts a card into something that lands.