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VIEWPOINTS
The Pricing
Froth
Inset: Price increases get everyone into a froth, but the cost of a takeaway coffee is far more than a greeting card.
Oh, for those ‘good old days’ when the trade price of greeting cards went up by 10% every January 1 and no one batted an eyelid. This year, at a time when everyone is being hit from all sides with cost increases, there is some trepidation about the inevitable price increases in the greeting card sector, despite taking comfort in the fact that the average cost of a card is a lot less than a takeaway cappuccino, let alone a pint of beer! PG canvassed members of the greeting card community for their opinions on pricing for 2023 and the beverage/greeting card economy.
Miles Robinson co-owner of House of Cards, seven shops based in the Home Counties:
Right: House of Cards’ Woodley store. Below left: Miles Robinson with Presentation’s Andrea Pinder (left) and Sue Marks, editor of PG&H.
“Everyone knows that price rises are on the cards, but it has been waiting game to see who jumps first! You cannot ignore the rising costs that are battering us all as consumers and businesses, it is a fact of life. The prices of greeting cards have to go up to reflect what is happening all through the supply chain. While no one likes price rises, there is no sense in publishers supplying retailers and making a loss. Likewise, as retailers we have to put up our retail prices to safeguard our margin and ensure the continuity and investment in our stores and staff. As long as we all remain competitive, we have to accept that prices will go up in 2023. However, publishers need to think long and hard about the prices they offer to major retailers. It is wrong that some of the leading multiples, thanks to the discounts they achieve from publishers, are able to sell cards below RRP. While I accept that members of the public will not make price comparisons on individual greeting cards in the same way they would on white goods and other branded products, as an ethical business we want to be able to give our customers the best products at a fair price. I never want us to ever be seen as inflating prices as a result of multiples having been given disproportionate levels of discount from publishers.” Mitigating measures: “At the start of this year, to accommodate the 2022 price rises, while we stuck to the same price points, we moved cards up to the next one, so a £2.25 card became a £2.50 card and so on. Thankfully we did not receive a single customer complaint.” The beverage/greeting card economy: “We all have to remember that the majority of greeting cards are not only cheaper than a takeaway cappuccino, but mean more, last longer and won’t give you a frothy moustache!” 22
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Seth Woodmansterne managing director of Woodmansterne Publications “We are committed to the survival of ourselves and the industry. When you combine all the cost increases since November 2021, no publisher can survive if they don’t pass on some increases to their retailers. And don’t retailers believe they can’t survive if they pass on increases to the consumer. And there you have it - a dilemma!” Below: Seth Woodmansterne with Milton Keynes mayor Andrea Marlow at Woodmansterne’s Magna Park distribution centre.