Is it a habit to buy Greetings Cards in the UK?

Do you think it is a Habit to buy Greetings Cards in the UK?  Well, from recent research some interesting statistics were found.  Furthermore it was fascinating in the face of the age ranges, quantities of cards bought, where they were being bought and price.

First of all there was quite a wide spread of age-groups, that had a slight bias towards the 25-55 yrs of age group.  This may be down to many reasons, predominantly it is a cultural thing with this group and the Over 55’s linking to pre internet.  Here are the breakdown in figures:

Under 25 yrs - 9.1%
25 - 55 yrs - 46.8%
Over 55 yrs - 44.2%

Interestingly, 87.2% of those who purchase greetings cards were female and 12.8% male.  This may also be a reflection on buying habits and responsibilities.  Or simply females are more in tune with remembering particular occasions.  Was it as important for a male to receive a card too?  This may be the answer to why this is the way it is.

The next interesting statistic was how many greeting cards do people buy over the course of a year?  In this particular case the largest estimated percentage was for 10 - 20 per annum.  It is worth noting this did not include Christmas cards which many people tend to buy in bulk.

43.6% buy 10-20 per year
17.9% buy 5-10 per year
17.9% buy 20-30 per year
14.1% buy fewer than 5 per year
6.4% buy more than 30 per year

So, where are greetings cards normally bought from? Tradition has it we are still heading for the card shop where the vast majority are bought.  At the other end of the scale, only a small percentage are bought online.  However, with buying habits changing as we already know in the UK general online purchases now exceed high street purchases and have so since 2009, this I’m sure will be reflected in time.

Card Shop - 74%
Charity Shop - 27.4%
Bookshop/Gallery - 20.5%
Gift Shop - 15.1%
Garden Centre - 2.7%

Online – 1.4%

There also appears to be a tendency to buy greetings cards that are left blank inside. 

77.9% prefer 'blank inside'
22.1% prefer a verse or text inside the card.

Finally, what would the average person expect to pay for a greetings card (excluding Christmas cards).  In this particular case most people would expect to pay on average between £2-£2.50.  However, if it was a special a very special occasion then this figure would be a lot higher, more in the region of £4-£=£6.

In conclusion we as a nation do buy cards regularly, our buying habits may change but the greetings card still holds a significant place in our everyday culture.


www.cardsforeveryone.co.uk

Stamp Prices Due To Rocket

The cost of a First Class stamp is due to rise this Month, a hike of 14p for both first and second class, making this the biggest percentage rise in over 30 years.

In these uncertain economic times we know how hard it is for households and businesses to survive, so, with the increase in emails and text message, could this see a massive decline in letter and greeting card sending.

As a Greeting card retailer we hope that this does not result in a slump in trade and we would like to reassure customers that there will be no rise in our postal charges in the near future.

No sooner had the regulator Ofcom lifted some price controls on Royal Mail, then they, The Royal Mail, announced an increase.

We all now that First Class mail does not mean next day delivery, so what is the additional 14p of each stamp actually going towards - profits or investment into an improved service.

http://www.cardsforeveryone.co.uk/

How To Chose A Birthday Card

How and why we choose a particular birthday card depends on a large number of different variables and it is mostly for this reason that greetings card suppliers have to offer the level of choice that we as consumers are familiar with encountering when we visit a card retailer / supplier. Taking the simple birthday card as an example it’s possible to see the types of buying decisions and the degree and level of choice and variety that modern card buying consumers encounter.

Gender

Birthday cards can be gender specific e.g. from a male or female to a male or female friend or relation. This has a strong effect on the appearance, message, theme and tone of the card, and greetings card customers have to therefore make the choice if this is the appropriate route to go down, or whether to choose something more open, or based on humour or theme rather than gender.

Formal or Less Formal Relationships

Birthday card buyers may also pick cards which are specifically designs and labelled based on the relationship to them (and gender) of the recipient. These cards could also either use a formal or less formal name for that relationship, and there is a huge variety of these e.g. father, mother, mum, dad, brother , sister, grandfather, granddad, grandmother, nan, cousin, in-laws, niece, godfather, godmother, boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, friend etc.

Age

Birthday cards based on age prove to be most popular for children / young people from their first to their 18^th birthdays, and to mark the many ‘special’ birthdays which follow e.g. 21^st, 30^th, 40^th, 50^th, 60^th, 70^th, 80^th, 85^th, and 90th, 95^th and even 100.

Themed

Themed cards are popular choices for birthdays and could for example incorporate sport e.g. football or popular characters e.g. Hello Kitty, Pepa Pig, Thomas the Tank Engine. Many cards with these themes however are more likely to be linked with certain younger age groups.

Funny

There is a large variety of funny birthday cards which could feature funny cartoons, photos, slogans, gags / jokes.

A Combination

In many cases the birthday card that is chosen incorporates a combination of elements.

Other Situations

Forgetting or not being able to send a birthday card on a person’s birthday is relatively common and as such card retailers usually stock some good belated birthday cards.

Choice

What these different variables boil down to is a large degree of choice for the greetings card buying customer. Greater distribution for greetings cards e.g. online has also meant more choice in for the consumer in how and where birthday cards are purchased.

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Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Weekly Blog: Friday 7th May

Thought for the day: Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.



Interesting facts on the greeting card industry:



1: The Uk greeting card industry is worth over 1.7 billion annually, according to the GCA

Market Report 2009 - more than tea and coffee put together.

2: It is the most successful greeting card industry in the world with over 800 publishers

producing over 1.5 billion greeting cards in 2009.



3: The average retail price of a card last year in the UK was £1.17.



4: The greeting card industry is directly responsible for the jobs of 100,000 people in the

Uk including: publishers; artists; photographers and image suppliers; verse and prose

writers; printers; paper and board companies; envelope and cello wrap suppliers; specialist

finishers; warehousing and distribution companies; trade fair organisers and retailers.





JOKE OF THE WEEK: A man visiting London stopped at a restaurant which claimed it

could supply any dish ordered, so the tourist asked the waiter for kangaroo on toast.

The waiter came back a while later and said, "I am so sorry, sir, but we have run out of

bread.



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Contact No: 01267 229533 email: sales@cardsforeveryone.co.uk

5 reasons to shop online?

1) No need to park: Save time on driving around looking for a parking spot, then find a space and realise you have no small change for the parking meter. Even worse, you spot a parking space, only for another car user to drive like the speed of light through the no entry route and nab your intended space, there is even the frustration of that once you have found that elusive parking bay, that the morons parked either side have not left enough room for trolley let alone a car to park between them.

2) Time saver:You will be able to finish the entire shopping in a few clicks. Searching or browsing an on line catalog can be faster than browsing the aisle's of a physical store. No risk of blood pressure rising because of queue jumping at the check out, no risk of some old dear (as lovely as they may be) bashing lumps out of your legs with a trolley.

3) Price and selection: One advantage of shopping on line is being able to quickly seek out deals or services with many different businesses. How many times have you checked your receipt at home to find that special offer you bought was probably the item to the right of the one which you purchased. On line you see the exact price of what you are purchasing, even then you need not feel foolish when you reach the checkout and decide that you really don't want the product and will look elsewhere.

4) Shop 24 hours a day: Although some supermarkets now stay open longer, they all seem to be closed after 4pm on a Sunday, besides if you have ventured into one of these outlets in the small hours you will notice that many of the shelves are empty waiting to be re-stocked.

5) Put tour feet up: Why not sit back and relax, watch your favourite soap or even the big match, have a brew, crack open the cans, then during the interval have a quick look on the web. Some people might even consider this multi tasking, you don't even have to wear the proper attire.

Good luck on line shopping.

There are even some great deals for birthday and occasion cards at www.Cardsforeveryone.co.uk .