Greetings industry examines how to overcome the cost of posties’ industrial action
It may now be spring, but the greeting card industry is still counting the cost of Christmas where single card sales held up well for the majority of retailers, but festive boxes and packs were hit by the timing of Royal Mail’s strikes.
With 72% of the respondents to PG’s Independent Retailer Barometer believing their customers sent fewer Christmas cards in 2022 compared to the year previous, it seems the posties’ industrial action severely impacted volumes.
Just a blip or a worrying trend that requires a concerted effort from the greetings industry to reverse? PG Buzz canvassed opinions. First up are Kaye Thurgood, owner of Sincerely Yours in Shenfield and Hornchurch, Five Dollar Shake md Matt Genower, GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson, and Mark Janson-Smith, md of London’s expanding Postmark group…
Kaye Thurgood, owner of Sincerely Yours in Shenfield and Hornchurch
How were your festive sales?
“We sold approximately 25% fewer Christmas boxes and packs in 2022. I’ve now spoken to all of my reps and agents who, without exception, reported the worst Christmas returns they’ve ever seen, some eye-watering stats!
“They also agree that this is not a blip and that we need to tackle this head on as history has shown us that consumer confidence is key and, once lost, it’s extremely difficult to regain.
“On the upside there is a general trend towards buying higher price point cards for special occasions, not just Christmas. However, while this trend helped Christmas 2022 trade, it is not significant enough to mitigate the lost turnover on packs and boxes.”
What can we do to up Christmas card sending?
“I’m championing the need for a whole programme of initiatives to promote and encourage Christmas card sending – we can’t sit back and let it dwindle away.
“It will require action and engagement from retailers, publishers, charities, Royal Mail, GCA and some effective PR to ram home to consumers of the full impact of not sending Christmas cards – including the effect on those charities which rely on the donations from the sales of packs and boxes.”
Matt Genower, managing director of Five Dollar Shake
“If you’re over the age of 40, I think the custom of card sending here in the UK at Christmas is in your DNA. Whether you buy a card to post, put it through someone’s letterbox or present it personally by hand, it’s a national habit. Royal Mail’s strike action gave us a reason to break that habit. In our time precious lives, it gave us all reason to question the motivation of sending the card in the first place.
“So, do I think Royal Mail has possibly irreparably damaged Christmas card sending here in the UK? Yes, I bloody do! Did I receive as many cards as I did in 2021? No. Maybe a third less. Did I send as many cards as I usually do? Absolutely I did. However, the reality is the cards missing from my mantelpiece just might not be ever replaced.”
What can we do to up Christmas card sending?
“I couldn’t be more aggrieved by Royal Mail’s actions. Last Christmas as a UK consumer we had next to no confidence in the postal service.
“I’m not sure there has ever been a stat in our industry so stark and worrying regarding one category as ‘72% of customer sent fewer Christmas cards’. This is the most pressing issue for anyone who cares about the industry and I’m so glad Kaye Thurgood is championing the cause. Kaye is a brilliant retailer with a fabulous business background. She and I chewed the cud at Spring Fair and she, like me, is up for the fight.
“We at Five Dollar Shake visited local care homes during November and reaffirmed our belief that card sending is not just a tradition but important. We sat down with residents and helped them to write handfuls of cards to their loved ones, friends who hadn’t heard from them in years and grandchildren who immediately felt compelled to send back.
“Ever since my TV producer brother was instrumental in putting the Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds show together with Age UK for Channel 4 I realised what amazing good we as an industry can do for the elderly and the lonely.
“Here’s my idea – we at Five Dollar Shake send a dozen of our Christmas cards to other publishers, say Great British Card Co, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Caroline Gardner, The Art File, Woodmansterne, Belly Button Designs, Carte Blanche Greetings or whoever wants to get involved.
“They in turn then send a dozen cards to us and collectively we then each visit our local care homes, all of which are crying out for activities to do with their residents, with a selection of Christmas card styles, the more publishers that get involved, the more care homes can be reached.
“Every publisher also connects with their local paper, which will hopefully result in lots of free goodwill stories that also promotes the benefits of Christmas card sending. It’s all completely free, everyone donates their time, their product and their franking machine. It’s not like any of us will be missing massive sales from care home residents.
“Do I care that I’m sending free stock to other publishers? Not one bit! It will result in masses of collective feelgood for the industry that will go a long way with the consumer. It’s the essence of why we send Christmas cards.”
Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA
“It’s crucial that we as an industry do everything in our power this year to try to gain back those lost Christmas card sends of 2022, by reminding people of the power of connecting through tangible cards.
“At a recent meeting with Royal Mail I reported the significant impact the November/December 2022 strikes had on the greeting card industry. We discussed Christmas cards sending, along with a shared ambition to promote the resurgence of card sending for Christmas 2023.
“Following on from this meeting, the Royal Mail consumer team has confirmed it is keen to look at initiatives to promote Christmas card sending to customers, and is taking this up with teams within the organisation. Also at our recent GCA council meeting promoting Christmas card sending was near the top of the agenda.”
Mark Janson-Smith, managing director of Postmark
“Worryingly, as a family we probably received over 50% fewer Christmas cards in 2022. I really hope it was a blip, but I can’t hide the fact that some people will definitely see this as a reason to stop sending as many cards so, unfortunately, I think we’ll see fewer Christmas cards sent in 2023, but hopefully more than in 2022!
“There will be a trend towards more special cards, with a higher RRP for the fewer cards that people do actually send, but it’s the number of cards sent that is the worry.
“As a business, we will carefully monitor the trends this year as I don’t think we can use 2022 as a guide. If we see a decline in the volume again, or in line with 2022, then we’ll definitely look at how we buy for 2024 with different glasses on and I imagine we will offer a smaller range of packs and put a lot more focus on higher RRPs as well as further expanding our relations card offering.”
What can we do to up Christmas card sending?
“I’d like to see industry initiatives to get people sending more Christmas cards, not just from a business point of view, but a sentimental one too. Sending and receiving cards is such an important part of the festive season. Without cards hanging everywhere and shelves overflowing with warm greetings, our house was definitely missing something this year.
“We really need to get Royal Mail on board with the effort to get people sending higher volumes of Christmas cards – and more cards in general. I don’t think it is the cost of the cards that is prohibitive, but the price of the stamps.
“If I was Royal Mail and bound by the Universal Service Obligation then I’d be looking at how to increase volume rather than increasing costs to the consumer as this has the opposite effect and decreases volume, yet they’re still bound by the USO so the infrastructure must remain and therefore the inherent costs. Sadly, maybe that’s what Royal Mail wants so they can justify changing the terms of the USO.”
These Christmas sales views also appeared in the March edition of Progressive Greetings magazine which can be read online here, or you can subscribe here to receive the magazine by post each month.
Top: Mark Janson-Smith, Matt Genower, Kaye Thurgood, and Amanda Fergusson give their views
