Nation’s favourite retailer declares festive missives ‘lost in the post’
The nation’s favourite department store John Lewis has dealt a blow to the greeting card industry by declaring “Christmas cards are lost in the post” in its latest retail Shop-Live-Look-Report.
Despite being one of the most sought-after retail accounts for publishers, John Lewis has only included cards in its list of Products We Left Behind, alongside gazebos, ice cube trays, office chairs, personal video recorders, small handbags, chrome housewares, and factor 30 suncream.
The annual How We Shop, Live And Look report released today, 13 December, claims sales of boxed Christmas cards are down 23% – although it’s not been made clear if that’s taken from 2023’s overall festive figures, or numbers to date this year – but the wider media, including the Daily Mail has already latched on to it, especially as it comes from such a respected and beloved British retail institution.
“Writing and sending a box load of Christmas cards, a key part of people’s annual celebrations, has been in steady decline in recent years, not least because many families have taken to Facebook or even WhatsApp to send their festive greetings,” it stated.
“But in the last year they seem to have taken another dive, with sales of boxed cards down 23%, and individual Christmas cards down 15%. Their fortunes will not have been helped by the fact that a first-class stamp now costs an eye-watering £1.65.”
But the claim isn’t borne out by research carried out this week by Hallmark, at the request of the GCA, looking at young people’s intentions regarding sending Christmas cards this week.
The survey by the publisher’s consumer panel of 1,000 adults revealed 63% of 18 to 35 year olds have planned to send more cards than last year, compared to 38% of over 55s.
That splits into 66% for the 25 to 34 age range, and 57% of those aged 18 to 24 – higher than all age brackets of 45-plus.
In addition, 60% of 18 to 35 year olds have spent more on the Christmas cards they have bought this year, compared to around 38% of those aged 55-plus.
Across both questions there’s a clear distinction between the under 45s and the 45s and over, suggested the Christmas category is alive and thriving for the younger shopper who John Lewis should be looking to attract to secure future customers.
“I completely disagree with the John Lewis report claiming that Christmas cards are products we have left behind – certainly not our experience! Christmas card sales are incredibly buoyant, we are well ahead,” said Mark Janson-Smith, managing director of the Postmark group of 15 stores.
“Our Christmas card singles are up double digit on last year, the appetite for Christmas boxes and packs is holding up well too. We’ve had over 85% sell through of boxes already and are regularly replenishing the displays in our stores. Christmas card sending is a tradition that is still very much alive.”
GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson said she was “very disappointed to see John Lewis making such a sweeping statement about Christmas cards being a thing of past, as they most definitely still have a strong place in the present and future.”
And she added: “Certainly, the evidence from our publisher and retailer members is that Christmas card sending remains strong this year – and we still have that last rush of sales to come.”
In other shifting festive trends, John Lewis’ 24-page report said tinsel sales are down 9% and there’s been a 13% slump in sales of 6ft Christmas trees and a 6% fall in sales of 7ft versions, while cheaper, smaller trees saw a 55% sales uplift, and the retailer suggested smaller new-build homes could be behind the changes, but also found many households were buying a smaller, artificial second tree alongside a main tree that tended to be real.
On the up is Jellycat, also a huge hit across greetings and gift retailers, where JL declared sales of furry Amuseables have “exploded”, seeing a 43% rise across its range of 176 products – and sales of special seasonal Jellycats like the Christmas cake, pudding, gingerbread men and candy canes have “risen a whopping 1,411% over the past 12 months:”.
John Lewis executive director Peter Ruis said: “Some things, as you will note, remain as fixed as they ever were, televisions continue to get wider, wet weather affects sales of garden furniture, nostalgia drives fashion trends, people can get very excited by a new beauty brand – Sol de Janeiro landed on our shelves in February, and rapidly became the most successful beauty launch in John Lewis’s history.
“There have also been some new trends. We’ve seen the rapid ascent of lip glosses, balms and oils, which now make up half of all sales of lip products, one in two of all the rings sold at John Lewis is now an Oura Ring, a smart wearable which monitors over 20 health metrics, and the old-fashioned alarm clock has returned to the bedroom.”
