Some 61% of indies reveal that eco-concerns impacted on card buying in 2018, according to findings from the PG Retail Barometer.
With environmental concerns high on the political, business and consumer agenda, over half of respondents (53%) in PG’s annual research into the feelings and actions of the independent greeting card retail sector said that eco considerations had affected card buying at a marginal level, with another 8% going so far as to say it had impacted ‘greatly’.
How have environmental concerns affected card buying in the last year?
Almost 40% of independent card retail stockists say they will definitely be looking to make changes to their card stocking on environmental grounds during 2019, while another 33% are sitting on the fence.
Of those who are committed to making pro-eco changes, over half (53%) will be seriously considering reducing or removing cellowrapped cards while almost a third (31%) will be looking to reduce the number of cards that feature flitter (or move to bio-degradable flitter) while 56% are anticipating increasing the amount of compostable-bagged cards they stock.
PG Buzz shares comments from a trio of indies who noted an uptick in interest in their customers’ buying habits this Christmas and/or are planning a more eco approach this year:
- Louise Prydderch, owner of Forget Me Not and Lulu Loves in Stubbington said: “We will be focusing on trying to purchase more non-cellowrapped cards. However, we will need extra envelopes from the suppliers to allow for those that get lost in store. It may be useful for suppliers to try to standardise card sizes to help with this – ie 5×7 6×4 6×6. We currently have two suppliers whose cards are larger and fit in only their own company’s envelopes. Our Lulu Loves shop is already using all non-plastic packaging and I aim to eradicate all plastic packaging from our Forget Me Not shop by the end of 2019.”
- Sarah Lishman, buyer for Barkers Home in Northallerton reveals: “It was noticeable that more customers were conscious of recycling, especially on wrapping paper, so I will definitely be taking that into consideration.”
- Mark Janson-Smith, managing director of Postmark, group of five shops in London said: “One thing we really noticed was people asking if the paper was recyclable. This is something we will really be trying to source for 2019 as it is really playing on people’s buying conscience.”
Top: The PG Retail Barometer is an annual survey undertaken to shed a light on the health and wealth of the independent greeting card retail sector.
