Leveraging what it knows best—consumers’ gift preferences—MyRegistry.com, the premier destination for universal registry services, tapped its massive database of 175 million gifts to find out just what today’s consumers want when it comes to the tabletop category.

The company reviewed registry activity from the last three years. The data sample included over 500,000 registries, half of which were for weddings, and the rest for various other occasions.

According to MyRegistry.com President, Nancy Lee, “Despite recent claims that suggest registrants have done a complete 180 from traditional tabletop items, such as china, crystal, and silverware, our data says not so fast.”

Looking solely at wedding registries, the company found that 10-20% of all gifts added were some kind of tabletop items.

Added Lee, “While these items may not be as popular as they used to be, the desire for them has remained relatively unchanged over the last three years, and they still appear on over 50% of all wedding registries. That suggests as many as one million wedding couples add tabletop items to their registries every year.”

But the news doesn’t stop there. The addition of tabletop items is growing when it comes to registries created for non-wedding occasions. According to the MyRegistry.com data, three years ago, just over 1% of non-wedding registries included these items. It has nearly doubled every year since, and now exceeds 9%.

The data also highlighted some important consumer trends. Registrants aren’t looking for their grandma’s traditional place settings. They are instead opting for open-stock items. Additionally, they rarely request service for 8 or more, unless it’s for casual drinkware or flatware.

There is an overwhelming preference for modern, casual designs, patterns and materials in all three tabletop categories. Registrants want to mix and match their looks to accommodate varying needs and personalities.

They also favor cleaner lines and fewer cuts in their crystal. Stoneware and ceramic preferences point to creams and whites, but banded, floral, and colorful dinnerware are popular as well. Stainless flatware still dominates, but mixed metals are taking registries by storm, thanks to social media. We are in the Instagram age, after all, and registrants gravitate toward what’s trending.

The bottom line: Don’t write off tabletop just yet. Even as registrants create gift lists with products to satisfy their diverse tastes, one thing is for sure—they still need to eat!

About MyRegistry.com 
MyRegistry.com is the largest universal gift registry software provider to U.S. and Canadian retailers. Businesses that use the company’s customizable, scalable, end-to-end gift registry solution are able to tap the massive (and growing!) gift industry. Easy to implement, cost-effective, and quick to market, with precise reporting and an optional in-store kiosk system, a universal gift registry powered by MyRegistry.com is the next digital utility for retailers of all sizes. MyRegistry.com – All stores, One registry.®