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There was so much riding on Christmas 2023, with a full on Cardmitment campaign swinging into action to encourage members of the general public to reboot their Christmas card sending. PG shares the festive reports from all manner of retailers.
Inset: Christmas came good for many greeting card retailers
Santa Delivered Adam Dury, coo of Cardfactory, which trades from 1,000+ stores in the UK Christmas verdict: “A strong finish.” Reveal all: “Christmas continues to be a key trading season for us and this year customers definitely spread their spend throughout the festive period with a strong finish once the weather settled and the Christmas festivities started. Despite the ongoing cost-of-living impact, consumers continue to want to celebrate and look for great value which we were once again well positioned for across both cards, gifts and celebration essentials. Specifically, we were pleased with the performance across our boxed and single Christmas cards and the subsequent support we provide to our charity partners.” Your approach: “We had a fully integrated marketing campaign, including our first ever nationwide radio Above: Cardfactory broadened feature and we continually kept the Cardmitment its Christmas card range to appeal to customers. campaign top of mind across the entire organisation. Below: Adam Dury in full flow at the 2023 GCA Conference Offering the customer great value for money remains and AGM. a key focus and in addition we ensured we broadened the choice of cards to provide something for everyone from the traditional to the humorous to the contemporary while also increasing the level of diversity and inclusion throughout the ranges.” Star performers: “We continue to see strong demand for gifting and celebration essentials alongside our card business and we remain focused on broadening the appeal of the overall offer.” Hunch for 2024: “We are very conscious of the ongoing economic backdrop and will continue to offer great value for money and a quality proposition. The category remains very resilient and the consumer’s desire to celebrate gives us all a reason to be joyful!” (See news for official stats)
John Procter, co-founder of Scribbler, which trades from 38 stores throughout the UK as well as online Christmas verdict: “Brilliant…beyond expectations.” Reveal all: “We had really strong sales across cards and gifts that were even better than pre-Covid…all back to full strength! Our pack sales were fantastic as were singles with more generic captions, such as ‘our house to your house’ and ‘special friend’ selling well. We worked a lot on our relations selection and were delighted by the response.” Your approach: “Our strategy of not discounting any cards or gifts pre-Christmas paid off. Customers also responded very positively to our plastic-free approach on boxed cards.” Star performers: “On boxes our own designs performed very well Top: John Procter (top left) as did those from Five Dollar Shake with some of the Scribbler team in festive mood. and Museums & Galleries. Above: Some Scribbler Christmas spirit. On singles, our own edgy humour sold well as did designs from Objectables, Brainbox Candy, Sooshichacha and Redback.” Hunch for 2024: “Feeling really positive and are back in expansion mode and are looking to open five or six more stores this year.” PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 31
