Watermark’s perspective on the Irish card market
As people have been getting back to their foreign holidays, it was time for PG to do its own globetrotting, setting off for a chat with some of the leading greetings distributors and publishers to find out how the card trade has been in their respective corners of the world.
This is the latest instalment from the international perspective, and here Ireland’s Paul Slater and Brian Murtagh, of Watermark Cards, explain how things are on the Emerald Isle…
Ireland: Year of two halves
Paul Slater, sales director, and Brian Murtagh, managing director, of Watermark Cards
The year that was…
“It was a year of two halves in 2022. It started extremely strongly as we were still comparing to the first half of 2021 when lockdowns of non-essential retail were in place for almost five months. “However, the second half of 2022 was significantly more challenging for several reasons. The war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living and energy crises, the summer heatwaves, and reduced footfall as a result of the resumption of foreign travel, have all contributed to a difficult period for the retail trade. After two years of staycations it seems everyone was keen to have a foreign holiday and this certainly impacted greeting card sales in the summer months.”
What have been the ups and downs?
“We saw a return to normal after two years of the pandemic. Wedding cards in particular had a huge increase in demand and mass gatherings and parties returned which increased greeting card activity. Looking back at 2020 and 2021 we’re extremely grateful that we are back to normal and, while Covid is still with us, we’ve learned to live with it and, hopefully, have a greater appreciation for all the things that matter the most.
“However, Brexit continues to cause some disruption with the additional requirements for importing goods. Consumer sentiment is definitely much lower as the energy and fuel costs become a reality for everyone and the war in Ukraine affects confidence.”
What changes in card buying habits have you clocked?
“Weddings returned with a bang in 2022 and sales matched accordingly. Communion and confirmation are very significant occasions in Ireland and these also returned to normal in 2022.
“These events had been largely cancelled in 2020 and resumed in 2021 with, effectively, two years of activity. This was another challenge in 2022 when comparing to 2021 as communion and confirmation had strong sales in late 2021 but returned to normal in 2022 with all ceremonies concluded by late spring.”
Any significant company news?
“Watermark Cards continues to offer a large and wide choice of greeting cards and gift dressings to the Irish retail trade from our Dublin warehouse. We’re extremely proud of our UK publishing partnerships and endeavour to represent them to the best of our ability. Providing a local service of planning, sales and merchandising, prompt delivery and invoicing enable Watermark to compete effectively in the Irish market.”
What are your hopes and dreams for this year?
“We look forward to a normal trading year in 2023 where we can compare properly with the previous year. Most importantly we hope for an end to the war in Ukraine and a year of peace and prosperity.
“The last few years have been extremely challenging with Brexit, the Covid pandemic, the global supply challenge and the cost-of-living and inflation crises. We hope this year will see a return to a period of stability and growth which I think we can all agree would be a very welcome development.”
These international views also appeared in the February edition of Progressive Greetings magazine which can be read online here, or you can subscribe here to receive the magazine by post each month.
