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Research Insights
Party On or Not? So many birthday celebrations, weddings, anniversary parties and Christmas gatherings just didn’t happen over the last two years, so surely we all deserve to get back out there? A recent survey undertaken by Kantar into consumers’ celebration plans shows that while indeed there are those who are planning to be proactive on the party front, and they are the ones more likely to frequent specialist card shops, there are others who still need some cajoling back to sociability. PG shares some of the findings…
In something of a gift to the greeting card industry, having been a sector that, despite its size (£1.7billion) and widespread engagement with the general public, has not really shown up on the radar of the major research companies for years, Kantar is now putting paid to that, using its Worldpanel Plus (which tracks the purchases of 100,000 UK adults) to drill down into the purses and minds of the nation’s greeting card buyers. Encouragingly, after a somewhat subdued Christmas last year, 6% of shoppers plan to spend more on Christmas this year with Kantar’s latest research findings reporting that almost 20% of shoppers are likely to spend more on Christmas cards and giftwrap this year, predictions which chime with the early buying habits experienced by many greeting card retailers. Being able to benchmark against the performance of other consumer products has already delivered some encouraging insights, such as how, while the online sales of greeting cards is still higher than prepandemic (now standing at around 12%), it has been one of the quickest to see the return to bricks and mortar sales.
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Above: There are lots of missed celebrations to make up for, but not everyone is in the party mood yet. Left: As part of its commitment to the greeting card sector, Kantar was a sponsor of The Retas. The research company’s consumer insights director, Tom Mitchell, presented the Best Department Store Retailer of Greeting Cards award to John Lewis & Partners’ (second left-right) buyers Chloe Cartwright and Sarah Moughtin with Anni Abrahams, merchandiser. Below: Almost one in five of us are planning to spend more on Christmas cards and wrappings this year, according to Kantar.
Jo Parman, strategic insights director of the Worldpanel Plus Team at Kantar, recognises the important role greeting cards play in human behaviour: “There is a sense of an emotional impetus driving change as people longed for connection to one another last year - the greeting card sector offered an important way for people to stay in touch and to show they care from afar. We’re still facing challenging times and it will be interesting to see how that desire to show the special people in our lives how much they mean will convert into sales for the sector.”
As to why Kantar has decided to start tracking greeting card sales, Jo clarified: “It’s a dynamic time for the greeting card sector and that flux creates demand for highquality data and insight. That’s what we can offer to retailers and publishers, helping them to understand, respond to and anticipate trends.” Highlighting just one change in circumstance from last year to this, which will have an impact not only on Christmas card sales, but also engagement with the sector, is school children giving cards to their classmates and their teachers. “This just didn’t happen last year as the schools were closed. It is not just the number of these extra Christmas cards that will be written this year, but also that positive engagement with the next generation of card senders that is important,” stresses Jo. “And sending a card to say thank you to your teacher at Christmas further reaffirms the positive role of cards,” she adds. As well as its ongoing tracking of greeting card purchases, Kantar also undertakes affiliated projects which also have a bearing on our sector. The most recent of these is its Celebration Survey Insights (based on