The boxed card market which is huge in Europe and the US is tiny here. Sure we have a good rang for Christmas but for the rest of the year boxed cards are almost non existent.
Overseas they have ranges of boxed birthday, baby, thank you, graduation and other cards. From retailers and wholesalers I talk with sales are strong.
Maybe its a cultural thing or maybe it’s that we don’t have the local range to drive interest. I’m curious because I have been chasing local all-year ranges of boxed cards without success and I’m having to purchase imported product.
My feeling is that in the right kind of store with the right display boxed cards would sell well here without detracting from single cards. US retailers tell me that single sales are not affected.
It would be nice to see some R&D from the card companies on this. It would be in their interest to do so and furthermore to share any research with the retailers of their products.
From a personal point of view, i would never buy boxed card for anything other than christmas (even then i usually buy a mix of boxed and single). I feel boxed cards are slightly less personal than single cards. Buying individual cards allows them to be personalised to suit the recipiant.
Id like to look at trialling boxed cards when our store is refitted. Can i ask who your supplier is for the imported product?
Jarryd, I know they trialled this here previously and it did not work as hoped. My experience in the UK and even then US is that people buy boxed cards to hold and use over a longer period of time – more likely for second tier recipients. Mark