Greeting Card Market 2013: The Ultimate Guide to the Greeting Card Consumer Market

Transcription

1 The Greeting Card Market Introduction Research Methodology & Objectives Special investigations: Christmas Card Traditions Special Investigation: Custom Card Purchases Executive Summary Research Demographics of Greeting Card Buyers Sales & Growth in the Greeting Card Market Greeting Card Purchases & Purchasers Greeting Cards for Holidays and Occasions Greeting Card Features & Themes Shopping Destinations for Greeting Cards Personalities of Greeting Card Customers Greeting Card Customers Favorite Brands, Retailers and Websites Chapter 1: Demographics of the Greeting Card Customers Total Purchase Incidence of Greeting Cards Figure 1: Greeting Card Purchasers, 2013, 2009, 2007 & 2005 including custom-printed cards Demographic Profile of Greeting Card Buyers Gender Figure 2: Gender of Greeting Card Buyers, 2013, 2009, 2007 & Take Action>> Figure 3: Greeting card buyers and non-buyers by gender, 2013, Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 2

2 Income Figure 4:Income of Greeting Card Buyers,2013, & Take Action>> Figure 5: Greeting card buyer and non-buyerss income, Age of Respondents Figure 6: Age and Generation of Greeting Card Buyers,2013, 2009, 2007 & Take Action>> Figure 7: Greeting card buyers and non-buyers by age, Overall Purchases Figure 8: Trends in Greeting Card Purchases, 2013 & Take Action>> Figure 9: Greeting card purchase incidence among qualified respondents, 2013 & Trends in Use of Greeting Cards, among Buyers & Non-Buyers Alike Figure 10: Impact of text messaging, , social media on greeting card usage Take Action>> Chapter 2: Sales & Growth of the Stationery Goods & Greeting Card Market Overall Size & Growth Stationery Goods Market Figure 11: Size of Stationery Goods Market t, Greeting Card Market Detail, Size & Growth Figure 12: Greeting Card Market Detail, Size & Growth Take Action>> Historical Data on Stationery Goods Industry Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 3

3 Figure 13:Historical stationery goods market, About Channels of Distribution for Greeting Cards Figure 14: Greeting card markets by channels of distribution, 2009 & Historical Channel of Distribution for Greeting Cards Figure 15: Greeting Card Sales by Channels of Distribution, 2009 & Take Action>> Chapter 3: About Greeting Card Purchases & Purchasers Details about Greeting Card Purchasing About Individual Greeting Card Purchases Figure 16: Purchases of individual greeting cards, 2013, 2009, Take Action>> About Number of Individual Cards Bought & Amount Spent Figure 17: Number of individual greeting cards purchased and average.amount spent, 2013, 2009, Figure 18: Distribution of number of greeting cards bought Take action>> Figure 19: Distribution of amount spent on individual greeting cards, Take Action>> About the Last Individual Greeting Card Bought Figure 20: Spending on last greeting card bought, Take Action>> Where People Bought Their Last Individual Greeting Card Figure 21: Where last individual greeting card was bought, 2013, Take Action>> Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 4

4 About Boxed-Card Purchases Figure 22: Types of boxed cards purchased, 2013, 2009, Take Action>> About Number of Boxed Cards Bought & Amount Spent Figure 23: Number of boxed greeting cards purchased and average amount spent, 2013, 2009, Take Action>> Figure 24: Distribution of number of boxed cards bought, Take Action>> Figure 25: Distribution of amount spent on boxed cards, About the Last Box of Cards Bought Figure 26: Spending on last box of cards bought, Take Action>> Where People Bought Their Last Box of Greeting Cards Figure 27: Where last box of greeting cards was bought, Take Action>> About Custom-Card Purchases Figure 28:Types of custom cards purchased, 2013, 2009, Take Action>> Occasions for Custom Card Purchases Take Action>> Figure 29: Occasions when customized cards are purchased, Number of Custom-Printed Cards Bought Take Action>> Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 5

5 Figure 30: Distribution of number of custom-printed cards, Spending on Custom-Printed Cards Figure 31Distribution of amount spent on custom-printed cards, Take Action>> About the Last Custom-Printed Card Bought Figure 32: Spending on last custom-printed card bought, Take Action>> Where People Bought Their Last Custom-Printed Card Figure 33: Where last custom-printed card was bought, Take Action>> Chapter 4: Greeting Card Holidays & Occasions Occasions that Stimulate Greeting Card Purchases Figure 34: Occasions When Greeting Cards Were Bought, 2013, 2009, Holidays for which Greeting Cards Are Bought Figure 35: Holidays for which greeting cards were bought, 2013, 2009, Take Action>> Figure 36: Combined holiday and Occasion greeting card purchases, More About Christmas Cards Figure 37: Send Holiday Greetings 2012, 2008 & Take Action>> Demographics of the Christmas Card Buyers Figure 38: Demographics of Christmas Card Buyers, 2013, Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 6

6 Take Action>> Personal Christmas Cards Bought Figure 39: Personal Christmas Cards Sent, Christmas 2012, 2008, Figure 40: Distribution of personal Christmas cards sent Take Action>> Business Christmas Cards Bought Figure 41: Number of business Christmas cards sent Christmas 2012, Take Action>> Types of Christmas Cards Bought Figure 42: Type of Christmas Cards Bought, 2013 & Take Action>> Spending on Christmas Greetings Figure 43:Distribution of spending on Christmas cards Take Action>> Trends in Sending Christmas Greetings from Past Year to Current Year Figure 44: Trends in Christmas card purchases for Christmas , , Take Action>> Where Bought Christmas Greeting Cards Figure 45: Where people bought Christmas 2012 holiday cards Take Action>> Favorite Christmas Card Themes Figure 46: Favorite Christmas Card Themes, 2013, Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 7

7 Take Action>> Attitudes about Sending Christmas Greetings Figure 47: Attitudes about Christmas Cards, Chapter 5: More About Greeting Card Features & Themes Trends in Greeting Card Features Figure 48: Greeting card features, 2013, 2009, Take Action>> Trends in Greeting Card Themes Figure 49: Greeting card themes, 2013, 2009, Take Action>> Figure 50: Popular themes for greeting cards, Special Added-Value Features in Greeting Cards Figure 51: Special added-value features, 2013, 2009, Take Action>> Chapter 6: Shopping Destinations for Greeting Card Shoppers Figure 52: Destinations for greeting card shoppers, 2013, Take Action>> Retailer Features that Attract Greeting Card Shoppers Figure 53: Features that influence greeting cards shopper, Take Action>> Chapter 7: Personalities of Greeting Card Shoppers Figure 54: Greeting card personalities, Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 8

8 Take Action>> Attitudes about Greeting Cards Detail Attitude Statements by Personalities Figure 55: Attitude Statements by Personality Take Action>> Take Action>> Chapter 8: About Greeting Card Shoppers Favorite Brands and Stores Leading Greeting Card Brands Take Action>> Top Retailer Brands for Greeting Cards Figure 57: Top retail brands where greeting cards were purchased, 2013 & Top Websites for Greeting Card Customers Take Action>> Figure 58: Top internet websites for greeting cards Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 9

9 INTRODUCTION Greeting Card Market Report Overview The market for greeting cards is a tough one in today's digital environment, with consumers having many faster, easier, and in many cases, cheaper ways to send a greeting. In addition, a new, more personalized type of greeting has emerged, thanks to custom-printing internet providers like Shutterfly and Snapfish which take a customer s photos, combine it with a boilerplate greeting or one s own and deliver a customized printed greeting or set of greeting cards. Many cultural trends are afoot that are changing consumers' demand for greeting cards, but one thing is for certain: The business of selling traditional preprinted greeting cards is challenging as consumers use Facebook, Twitter, , texts - not to mention - the telephone as an alternative to send a greeting or use the internet or third-party intermediaries to produce one s own custom-printed card. In a tough market, the competition is getting even tougher as leading retail brand American Greetings acquired Carlton Cards, Recycled Greetings and in 2009 sold off its retail stores to Schurman Fine Paper to operate under American Greetings, Carlton Cards and Papyrus names. And in the latest shift, American Greetings has been acquired by the Weiss Family, which has returned the company to private ownership and delisted the company s public shares off the NYSE in Augustl Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 10

10 Research Methodology & Objectives The new study is based upon an online survey conducted in June 2013 among 500 recent buyers of : Individual preprinted greeting cards and note cards; Boxed cards, including boxed note cards and greeting cards, including Christmas cards; and Customized cards, such as customized greeting cards, invitations, photo cards, etc. A total of n=727 representative adult consumers (18-70 years) were sampled to identify n=507 qualified greeting card consumers to complete the survey. The overall incidence was 70 percent, which includes recent greeting card purchasers with incomes over $25,000. The results of this survey are compared with a similar study conducted in November 2009 among 1,436 U.S. consumers who recently bought one or more stationery goods products, as well as similar surveys fielded in October 2007 among 1,205 stationery goods buyers including greeting card purchases; and a 2005 survey among 1,326 stationery buyers. Thus this report provides powerful trend tracking information from 2005 until the present. (Note: The 2005, 2007 and 2009 studies were broader in scope than the current one. The historical surveys included data about a variety of stationery and other paper products, including gift wrap, scrapbooking, paper crafting, and others. Only data in the previous surveys pertaining to greeting cards specifically are included in this current report.) The objective of this study is to provide greeting card marketers and retailers insights about the consumer market for their products. These consumer insights help marketers connect more effectively with their target market so that they create and sell more greeting cards that consumers really desire. Based upon research among recent greeting cards consumers, this report focuses on market opportunities available to product manufacturers and retailers to help them deliver products and services that satisfy the consumers craving for greeting cards to communicate, express oneself and celebrate important life events. Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 11

11 With a focus on consumers, their buying behavior, needs, desires and preferences, this research study includes research data and statistics about: Greeting Card Market Size and Growth: What is the size of the greeting card market, as well as the three major products included therein, e.g. individual cards, boxed cards and customized cards? How rapidly is the greeting card market growing? How is the greeting card market sold through different channels of distribution? What are the key industry trends? Demographics of the Greeting Card Consumer Market: What are the demographic characteristics of people who buy greeting cards? How is greeting card goods buying behavior influenced by demographic segments (e.g., gender, age, household income (HHI), size, composition, ethnicity/race, education, etc.)? Greeting Card Buying Behavior: What are the primary characteristics of the consumers buying behavior related to greeting cards and different types of greeting cards? Why they buy these goods and how do consumers motivations differ by product category segment? Where people shop for the different types of greeting cards; What factors influence their decision making; How much they spend within each of the greeting card product segments and across the entire greeting card category; what is the role of brand in greeting card selections and shopping choices? How do different demographic segments differ in their shopping and buying behavior? Psychographic Profile and Segmentation of the Greeting Card Markets: A psychographic profile of the greeting card buyers is developed in this report. Four different types of greeting card consumer personalities are identified. Different drives and motivations found among consumers purchasing greeting cards are identified, including what factors are more or less important in driving greeting card purchasing decisions among the different personalities; and how can greeting card marketers and retailers better understand the hearts and minds of their consumers. Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 12

12 Data collected in the survey about each of the greeting card product categories Data on three different greeting card product categories was collected, specifically individually-purchased cards; boxed card sets; and customized cards. For each of the greeting card product categories, data was collected about the following: Type of specific items bought in the past year; Amount spent in total in the product category, as well as the amount spent purchasing each of the individual products bought; Type of stores where category purchases were made, including whether each source was a regular, occasional or infrequent/rare shopping destination for these products, as well as the one store where the last category purchase was made; Store features that attract specific category buyers to a store destination. Additional information collected about greeting cards and greeting card buyers For greeting cards, additional detail was gathered, including Number of individual, boxed and customized cards bought and the amount paid for the last purchase of an individual and boxed card; Details about custom-printed cards, such as amount spent on last single item bought; Specific holidays and occasions for which greeting cards were bought; Special greeting card product features that attracted shoppers, such as recycled paper, music enhancements, hand-made paper, etc.; Favorite themes for greeting cards, such as pets, spiritual, humorous, nostalgia, etc.; Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 13

13 Attitudes about buying and sending greeting cards. Special investigations: Christmas Card Traditions In addition to the overall market characteristics studied, this report also includes an in-depth profile of the Christmas greeting card tradition, including tracking trends from Tradition of buying and sending Christmas greeting cards was a special emphasis in the survey In addition the tradition of buying and sending Christmas greetings was another area of special investigation in the quantitative survey, including: Whether they bought and sent Christmas greetings for Christmas celebrations 2012 and plans to buy for Christmas 2013; Number of personal and business Christmas greetings sent; Trends in sending Christmas greetings, for example plan on sending more or fewer greetings for Christmas 2013 as compared with Christmas 2012; Favorite themes for Christmas cards, such as snowmen, angels, Santa, religious, pets, etc.; Type of Christmas cards bought, specifically customized cards, pre-printed boxed cards, individual cards. Special Investigation: Custom Card Purchases The demand for customized greeting cards grew dramatically from 2009 to 2013, nearly doubling as measured by purchase incidence. Given this dramatic rate of growth, customized greeting cards represents a strong and growing category for marketers that can attract the more general card buyer to their unique and customized offerings. Further, this category has plenty of room to grow Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 14

14 and attract more customers for more holidays and occasions. This segment of the greeting card market is examined in detail in this report, including occasions (e.g. holidays like Christmas, weddings, other occasions) that generate purchases of custom cards; number of cards typically ordered; spending overall, plus per card; and where custom cards were ordered, including at retail stores and directly online. Unity Marketing, 2013 Page 15