Indies see trend swinging away from packs of festive cards
With just a few weeks to go until the big day, there’s still a lot to play for on the Christmas trading front, but indies have been stirring up the festive feeling.
The general feedback is that single cards are beating pack sales, more niche captions are a definite trend, people are after something a bit different with 3D designs hitting the spot, advent calendars have been extremely popular – while the price of stamps is a definite bone of contention, although people recognise the value of second class at 75p.
“It’s all really starting to ramp up. Single card sales are very strong. So glad we’re not blighted by postal strikes this year,” commented Mark Janson-Smith, md of the Postmark group of 15 stores.
“However, having bucked the trend in the last few years on pack sales this year, in line with many others, our sales of packaged cards are down, but we’re hoping our uplift in single cards will compensate for this.”
Miles Robinson, co-owner of the Home Counties House of Cards group of seven stores, hopes its “record sales of advents” bodes well for a decent Christmas.
“We’ve never known anything like it on the advents front, he said, “no doubt helped by so many high-profile beauty brands promoting their take on advents.
“It’s a bit of a mixed bag at the moment, but Christmas trade has definitely started picking up so we are cautiously optimistic as to where we will be sales wise on December 24. It should be better than last year, but not convinced it will end up like the 2021 bonanza.”
Up in Edinburgh Paper Tiger owner Michael Apter revealed like-for-like sales are broadly on a par “or even slightly up”, and said its “single card sales are holding up well so far” in his three stores, and also paif tribute to card publishers’ for the sustainable changes they’ve made to packaged cards which seen some customers shift to boxed cards.
He added: “They offer better value for money, but now also look better, merchandise better, and feel like a more substantial purchase.”
Staying north of the border Sarah Holmes, owner of Elgin’s Pencil Me In, said her single card sales are “going well”, but she’s already sold out of her small selection of boxed cards: “I was swithering over whether to order more, but I have!”
In the first of a series, PG Buzz gets a more detailed lowdown on the current state of Christmas card sales from a trio of indie greeting card retailers. Today it’s the turn of Charisma, A Stone’s Throw, and Cards N Things…
Janet Fowler, Charisma, Sheffield
What’s the balance between your single cards and pack sales?
“Single cards are selling well and I haven’t seen any difference from last year to be honest. Wife is always the slowest to sell initially and then we end up selling out so that caption is very last minute – I wonder why!”
Are charity packs proving more popular than other packs?
“Definitely people are wanting more charity packs then non charity. My feelings are there aren’t enough charity boxes available but plenty of cello packs, even though customers are wanting charity cards, sales are down on last year.”
Have customers cut back due to postage costs?
“I have heard many customers say that, however, I’m hoping for a surge in the next couple of weeks.”
Any particular captions or trends coming through?
“We haven’t sold anywhere near as many Across The Miles cards this year and more customers have been asking for ‘to the grandchildren’ instead of buying individual cards per grandchild. ‘Both of you’ seems a more popular title this year and ‘mum’ and dad’ seem to be slowing down.
And how are festive season sales going in general?
“Generally sales are down on last year up to now, but I think this cold spell will kick start Christmas. Customers always say it gets earlier, in fact deliveries come earlier – even July this year – when we ask for September deliveries. However, customer spending gets later for us every year making the re-ordering process very difficult indeed. The last two weeks before Christmas have proved to be very busy this last couple of years. Let’s hope that’s the case for 2023 too. “
Rob Sampson, A Stone’s Throw, Sherwood
What’s the balance between single cards and packs?
“For us, sales of singles have always been stronger than packs, and that’s continuing this year – though in roughly the same percentage splits as before so no particular change.”
Are charity packs more popular than other packs?
“We have a lot of charity shops around us so we tend to steer clear of charity packs, instead going for the higher-quality end of the pack market.”
Any particular captions or trends coming through?
“The one area that’s grown for us significantly this year is with 3D cards, with people buying handfuls of Alljoy’s Message In A Bottle Christmas cards at a time, and we’ll certainly be on the lookout for more 3D cards when we do our buying next year.
“Relations singles have so far been fairly slow, and we’re wondering whether some people are buying the 3D cards for special people instead of specific relations cards, so that’s something we’re trying to keep our eye on.
“The other area that has increased for us is the ‘Thinking of you at Christmas’ type cards for when a Merry Christmas card just isn’t appropriate, with a particular mention for cards by Fox Under The Moon – our customers love the sentiment for this type of recipient.”
How did your advent calendar sales go?
“We don’t sell chocolate advent calendars at all, but do offer traditional card ones, as well as more interesting options. For the third year in a row we sold out of the EXiT game advent calendars despite increasing our order each year, and Roger la Borde’s Pop & Slot advent calendars have done very well for us for the second year on the trot. We’ll certainly be looking at other exciting advent calendar options for next year to try to capitalise on this.”
And how are festive season sales going in general?
“Throughout November, on a gut-feel basis, we felt it was perhaps a little quieter than the previous years but, having done the month end totals, it actually turned out to be our busiest November yet! This is despite the cost-of-living/inflation crisis continuing, so we’re obviously doing something right. I’m not quite sure why it felt quieter when it clearly wasn’t – perhaps it’s just our brains telling us that it should have been, given the state of things!”
Helen Southgate, Cards N Things, Hellesdon
What’s the balance between single cards and packs?
“We’d say our sales this year so far are 80% single cards and 20% packs and boxes.”
Are charity packs more popular than other packs?
“Charity packs aren’t as popular, it’s assorted boxes which have a higher sell through for us.”
Any particular captions or trends coming through?
“Grandson, granddaughter and combined relations such as son and daughter-in law are the most popular, and money wallets have also been popular this year.”
Have customers cut back due to postage costs?
“A few people have commented about the postage costs but still seem to be buying similar volumes to send earlier.”
Do you sell stamps, and how are sales compared with previous years?
“Yes, we sell stamps, second class are definitely more popular this year, we aren’t selling nearly as many first class.”
How did your advent calendar sales go?
“We sell both traditional and chocolate advent calendars, this is perhaps one area where we’ve seen slower sales.”
And how are festive season sales going in general?
“Festive sales so far have been very good. We’ve been very busy and haven’t seen any drop off in footfall or sales – today has been busier than ever!”
