Kantar reveals UK public spent £317m on cards in final three months of last year
The British public spent £317million on greeting cards in the last three months of 2021 with almost three quarters (74%) of all UK households buying cards (everyday and Christmas) during that period, according to the latest findings from Kantar.
Having committed to tracking greeting card purchasing habits, the research company is building quite a picture of how the UK consumer is shopping for greeting cards in physical stores.
“Despite Q4 2021 showing a stronger year than in 2020, greeting cards sales are still catching up with 2019 sales in physical stores,” reveals Moneeba Baloch, consumer insights director of Kantar, whose remit includes the greeting card market.
According to its findings, the 2021 Q4 card spend was 11% down in physical stores compared to 2019 for the same period.
Drilling down into demographics, in middle families – which Kantar defines as those where the youngest child is aged between five and nine – the household spend on greeting cards in Q4 was up 11% on 2020 levels, but 19% down when compared to 2019.
Moneeba highlights that it is these middle families which are: “The key demographic that is driving decline in spend in Q4, despite the fact that they have stepped up since 2021.
“In Q4 2021 some 71% of middle families’ greeting card spend was in supermarkets, 45% was in celebrations stores (card and gift shops), 25% in bargain shops, 10% in stationery shops (such as WHSmith) with the remaining 10% being in department stores.”
Sharing another tasty nugget of information, showing the enduring link between greeting cards and confectionery, Moneeba reveals: “On five million shopping trips during Q4 when a greeting card was bought, so too was chocolate!”
Top: Some 74% of UK households bought cards in Q4 2021
