We have good results for February in our bigger high street newsagency in Melbourne. It did almost $13,000 in card sales, up 6%. This is good growth in what or proving to be a first quarter of low card sales growth, around 2%.
We also did $1,000 in sales from the cards we direct-imported from the US and UK that we pitch away from our traditional card department and to a younger demographic.
The growth is spread across everyday as well as lifestyle. Valentine’s Day was also good.
Cards remain a vital category for our businesses given the margin and that card shoppers are loyal.
In my experience, the card department delivers good rewards for in-store investment by the business. We work the category on social media as well as in-store with co-location promotion in the window and at the counter as well as the more traditional location.
On February comparison, be sure to look at February 1 through 28, don’t use the extra day as that may provide a rosier picture that is unhelpful for month on month analysis.