What no man wants to receive for the holidays - and what to buy him instead

Buying gifts for men can be difficult. Many are demure when asked what they would like to receive, and others offer nothing in the way of hints or suggestions.

Let us help.

To that end, Loop Commerce - the e-gifting platform used by Ralph Lauren, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, and others - shared with us the gifts that were exchanged the most and least often on its platform.

When an e-gift is sent via Loop, it is bought and paid for on the retail site. The recipient is then notified via email, and they can either accept the gift by entering in their details or exchange it and receive a store gift card of the same value instead.

According to Loop's data - which is based on "thousands of transactions," a spokesperson said - the most commonly exchanged gift when women are buying for men is the smallest size of spray cologne, pocket size .67 oz. It made up 2.1% of all exchanges on Loop's platform.

Fragrance in particular is a bad gift, especially online, where neither party has actually tested the scent. At most you're aiming to buy a pretty (and not very large) bottle. Fragrance is used less frequently among men these days, so it's unsurprising that most men wouldn't even want to give it a chance.

Men, on the other hand, were particularly fond of cashmere (surprise, surprise). It had the highest acceptance rate of all gifts: 1.4% of all gifts given on the platform. Yeah, we'd take it too.

From this, it's pretty clear what makes a good gift and what a bad one, and a super-soft sweater beats mediocre, cheap fragrance every time.