NEW YORK — Gift cards can seem like an easy way out: a pocket-sized piece of plastic with the smell of a last-minute cop-out. But as impersonal as they may be, most people like getting them.

This is the first year that the National Retail Federation's initial holiday consumer-spending survey found more people saying they'd like a gift card than any other category of gifts, including books and CDs, apparel and electronics.

"Consumers realize that what they've had their eye on all season can finally end up in their hands at the end of the season if they get a gift card," says Kathy Grannis, NRF spokeswoman.

Retailers are stepping in as Santa's elves, jazzing up gift cards and coming up with creative ways to personalize them. Now you can record an audio message for an American Eagle gift card, add someone's name to an American Express Gift Card, or download a family photo or your own artwork as the backdrop for a gift card to Lowe's.

Personal touch is as much for givers as receivers, says Abby Buford, a Lowe's spokeswoman.

"You want people to know you've put some work into it, that you've thought about that person," she says. "Maybe they're a fan of a certain kind of dog or they decorate an elaborate Christmas tree — now the gift card can reflect that."

According to an American Express Gift Card survey of 1,009 adults earlier in the season, the popularity of gift cards is actually changing the way people shop.

Gift cards were expected to total a quarter of holiday-gift spending, and more than two-thirds of those who buy gift cards said they finish their shopping sooner and with less stress.

The National Retail Federation estimates that gift-card spending over the holidays will total $26.3 billion.