International Snapshot: South Africa

Basil Shapiro in summer mode!
Basil Shapiro in summer mode!

Shapiros is a well-established Cape-town based card distributor who works with many publishers, including Hearts Designs, Laura Darrington, Ling, Paperlink, Paper Rose, Portfolio, Second Nature Quire, and, as from the start of this year, The Art File.

Basil Shapiro, owner of Shapiros shares views on the market and what this year promises.

“We had a fantastic year on greeting cards at Shapiros in 2017, working with publishers such as Second Nature, Paper Rose, Ling, Quire.

We target the higher end of the market as South Africa is dominated by SA Greetings. (The UKG of South Africa).

Second Nature is Shapiros ‘best supplier’ as its handmade cards really chime with retail customers in South Africa.
Second Nature is Shapiros ‘best supplier’ as its handmade cards really chime with retail customers in South Africa.

The highlights for me last year was that we were able to bring lots of new looks and feels to the market place even though they carry higher price points that we usually can achieve. I have found that if you are a little fearless and do things that nobody else is doing and it works you get market acceptance very quickly.”

The South African market: “Living in South Africa, politics changes all the time but you have to go with the flow.

I do find it frustrating that lot of my customers still don’t really understand the card market and they think that as long as they have some cards on sale they are okay, which drives me crazy, as there is potential out there for new looks.

Basil says that Portfolio’s Jaz&Baz range has been great but says they would do even better in 5”x7” format.
Basil says that Portfolio’s Jaz&Baz range has been great but says they would do even better in 5”x7” format.

Our card sales are showing a lot of growth because the designs that we carry are hitting the mark with the consumer. Not sure whether we are gaining a bigger market share or if the market is growing. The offering of cards out of the UK is so vast that we can always find new ideas everywhere.

Card size is a major problem for us importing from the UK, as the South African market prefers a standard 5”x7” or squares.  There are too many ‘funny sizes’ on offer from publishers that we can’t buy, although many of the designs are amazing.

Humour remains a constant challenge as a lot of ranges available to us are just too weird and don’t sell here.

Basil Shapiro in arm wrestle mode with Icon’s Alan Holmes at PG Live!
Basil Shapiro in arm wrestle mode with Icon’s Alan Holmes at PG Live!

Our best supplier is Second Nature. Its handmade cards out sell everything else we carry, because people understand them and they are not ‘scary’ for consumers.

For 2018 the new ranges that we are seeing from publishers already makes me feel that the card market is in good hands.

As for our country’s bigger political challenges, we will have to wait and see!”

 

MORE NEWS
Henries Miles Feature Image
 
Miles Robinson and Nigel Williamson receive Honorary Achievement Award at The Henries...
Black history Feature Image
 
GCA instigates social media campaign to spotlight Black publishers...
Alice Scott Feature Image
 
Alice Scott brand goes back to its roots bringing Scottish humour to Pigment...
Paper mirchi charity Feature Image
 
Paper Mirchi supports Woodland Trust and helps Barnado’s fundraising with old stock...
Christmasworld Feature Image
 
Messe Frankfurt goes real and deep with trends release for next festive season...
Spider stamps Header image
 
Posties join in fun to promote Royal Mail’s eight-legged collectables...
Get the latest news sent to your inbox
Subscribe to our daily newsletter

The list doesn't exist! Make sure you have imported the list on the 'Manage List Forms' page.