Greeting Cards

This Proudly Australian Made shelf-talker, in the card department, attracts shoppers, it starts conversations and brings appreciated comments of kudos at the counter. The artwork is smart and noticeable.

This Australian made pitch works in other parts of the business too, which feeds into social media messaging. It is topical.

This full-face display of Mother’s Day cards on the lease line is working a treat.

The display catches attention of people walking past. They can browse the range without having to touch anything. That the display is not crowded / overloaded is key I think.

The full card is on show – meaning the full creative investment can be leveraged rather than the usual top third that we so often see in card fixtures in Australia.

The display has worked so well that we have had to shift stock around to fill gaps, which is a good problem to have.

The jury is out on Mother’s Day, especially in Victoria with stage 3 restrictions still in place. It’s hard to figure out how it will play out.

Shopping malls in the city and suburbs are not back yet, not even at 33% of traffic. I expect high street stores to have a better season than shopping mall based stores. That said, I expect most mums will not get a visit Sunday, meaning that card purchases will need to have been considerably earlier this year as posting anything now is too late. Online has benefited too, which is good for those with that opportunity.

With people spending more time at home rather than socialising, now is a good time to pitch easter cards. History has shown this season to be popular outside the religious significance – as a season for people to reach out to loved-ones to say hey… Here is a new video produced by newsXpress for its members to use on social media.

Most of the cards displayed at Marks & Spencer are wrapped in cello. For the small range not wrapped in cello, they pitch this sign:

While the gesture feels token in this large department store, it is a message.

Elsewhere at card and gifts trade shows here in Australia as well as overseas, card manufacturers are taking a stronger stand with some saying cello has been if is being removed altogether. Others have found innovative approaches to maintaining physical product integrity.

This is an active space for us as retailers as more shoppers want to see less waste in what we sell. Reducing cello / plastic from cards will help with sales.

Indie retailers are better positioned to leverage the new approach to packaging greeting cards than supermarkets or department stores.

In a further challenge to the Papyrus card brand, even though that falls under different ownership, the owner of the Papyrus greeting card shops in the US filed for bankruptcy over night.

Schurman Fine Papers files for protection from creditors, listing assets of as much as $50 million and liabilities of as much as $100 million.

• Company affiliates include Papyruschain of stationary stores

• Also operates or holds rights to the NIQUEA.D, Paper Destiny, Carlton Cards and American Greetings retail brands, per website

  • Schurman has said it will close all of its Papyrus stores, Retail Dive reportedlast week

• The case is Schurman Fine Papers, 20-10135, U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware

Papyrus announced yesterday that it was closing all of its 260 US stores. Retail Dive has the story.

In a letter to employees, Dominique Schurman, COO of Schurman Retail Group, which owns Papyrus stores, said the company would close its doors. The company has hired liquidation firm Gordon Brothers to assist with the going-out-of-business sales, according to the letter, viewed by Retail Dive.

…

The company acquired the American Greetings and Carlton retail banners from American Greetings Corporation for $6 million plus equity in 2009. As part of the deal, Schurman sold its wholesale business to American Greetings. American Greetings Corporation — which last year was acquired by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice — today makes Papyrus and the other brands that fill Schurman’s retail stores.

There is no coverage in press reports so far about what the move may mean, if anything, for the Papyrus card brand. That said, the store closure move will impact the card brand.

Here is a video I shot a few weeks ago about the launch of the successful UK Card Factory in Australia via a relationship with the doubled Reject Shop group. I shared the video with newsXpress members and retailers of greeting cards – gift shops, card shops and newsagents – using the Tower Systems POS software late last year.

I think the video is important as it outlines some of the possible impacts of the Card Factory / Reject Shop move that could impact newsagency card sales.

I would rather the Greeting Card Association be on the front foot on this.

Obligation card shoppers like captions on cards they purchase to be targeted for the recipient. While more creative card shoppers, those more likely to buy blank cards and fully express themselves are less concerned about captions, the obligation card shoppers want it simple and clear, they want the caption they need.

With some Christmas ranges being reduced, obligation card shoppers have been less satisfied. I think this is a reason we see more newsagents ranging Christmas and other seasons from multiple cards companies.

The obligation card shopper is important in that a good seasonal experience that is satisfying for them and their recipient could be useful in getting them back in through the year.

We need more caption depth and less loading of the most popular captions in 2020.

Caption depth is a focus of some re-energised competitors outside the newsagency channel and that is a challenge we, and our card suppliers, need to step up to if we are to hold or grow our position in overall unit sales.

The card category is critical to our businesses for the net traffic delivered and the margin achieved.

The best place to buy Christmas cards this year is a local newsagency. It will be a small, locally-owned, family business, which supports local community groups. You are also like to find a good range of Christmas cards rom fancy to basic.

At supermarkets like Coles, there is less of a choice. Typically, they pitch cheap looking and packaged cards at a high price point. The cards themselves are shoved on a shelf and not respected as you would usually find in a specialty card store, like a newsagency.

The Christmas card range this year at Coles is mediocre and expensive in my opinion.

As a channel we need to do more to call out the difference between what we offer in getting cards compared to supermarkets. We need to subtly remind shoppers how we bring value to this category and provide them with a shopping experience they will appreciate. We can do this through social media and elsewhere.

We can beat the supermarkets and similar by being more engaged with this category and reaching outside our four walls with stories representing our differentiation.

It is good to see some Australian card suppliers, Paper Street and Henderson Greetings, offering boxed Christmas cards in open packaging this year. Packaging without the usual acetate all-enclosing container.

In this type of packaging, a slim cardboard box frame is used to hold the cards with most of the surface area front and back open so that customers can touch and feel the actual cards. It is an open box approach.

I like this. I like that it is a good environmental story as well as a good customer service experience.

Feedback from customers in-store has been terrific so far this year. since we have the traditional and new packaging from various suppliers in-store, it is interesting hearing unprompted comparisons about the packaging being made.

The open box in the photo below is from a card company in the UK. I am holding it so you can see what I mean about the benefits of this type of packaging.

Where cards have treatments, such as embossing, the open box approach works well, offering shoppers a tactile experience that could / should more effectively guide purchase.

I anticipate a consequence of more card companies adopting the open box approach to the traditional boxed Christmas card packaging will be better product, product that leverages the tactile shopping experience. Customers will benefit as will retailers and card companies.

Anything we can do to grow card sales has to be important, right?! I think this open box approach pursues that goal.

With physical retailers chasing opportunities to offer experiences, it  is appropriate and timely that innovative card companies are facilitating a better experience in Christmas boxed card shopping.

As competition with online intensifies, anything we in physical retail can do to leverage in-store tactile experiences matters. 

Boxed Christmas card sales are important for the newsagency channel in that compared to everyday card sales, we perform very well in the boxed Christmas card space. Being on the front foot with innovation matters as it is differentiating. This is where the work by Paper Street and Henderson Greetings is important as it provides indie retailers with an advantage.

We are appreciating the terrific reaction from shoppers to the placement of single Christmas cards full face on the lease line. While this is one of four placements of Christmas cards in this particular shop, it is the only one on the lease line for attracting passers-by and pitching Christmas cards.

Impulse and early Christmas card purchases are valuable.

We made the stand to have 100% control over what cards are placed here.

This video I made for social media has been terrific at getting people engaged with cards.

Our channel needs to do more to promote cards outside our shops, to draw attention to occasions we cover that others don’t and to shine a light on cards people can see themselves giving others.

The more people think about cards the more they become a thoughtful purchase. We play better in that thoughtful purchase than an impulse purchase.

Supermarkets and convenience stores are all about impulse. We are all about destination. For too long, however, we have relied on simply having a product category to drive traffic. That world is gone. We need to engage in myriad ways to attract shoppers and we do this by pitching categories outside our shops.

Greeting cards remain one of the most financially and traffic valuable product categories in any newsagency business. Newsagencies are top of mind for major seasons as well as for less popular card giving captions.

I know from experience that engaging with the category can increase traffic and sales for the category. Here are my refreshed top tips for engagement if you want to grow card sales:

1. Pitch at the counter. Always have a two or three cards for impulse purchase at the counter. If they don’t work in two days, change them. Otherwise, change weekly.
2. Make it easy. Setup a small writing desk. Let people write o the card. Sell them a stamp and offer to post it for them.
3. Pitch at the entrance / exit. Follow the national approach by Coles. They do it because it works. You choose the cards. Do not purchase extra cards, use existing stock.
4. Train and engage the team. Ensure every staff member understands your cards and knows how to approach shoppers. Reference cards in every team meeting.
5. Staff picks. Close to the counter have a selection of staff pick cards. These should change regularly.
6. Include cards in every gift display.
7. Include licenced cards with other products in-store form the same licence.
8. Be a specialist. Leverage low volume captions that most other retailers do not cover. Captions like Thank You Coach and New Home give you the opportunity to remind people about giving cards.
9. Reward loyalty. Ensure every card purchase is a step toward a loyalty bonus. Differentiate your business through this.
10. On social media. Promote a single card or a single licence or a single theme in posts. There should be at least 3 card related posts every week.
11. Promote to businesses. Businesses send cards – if they do not they should – pitch bulk purchase at an offer.

I think we as retailers carry the prime obligation to drive card sales and to attract new shoppers to our businesses looking to purchase cards. We are on the front line. This, to me, is what sets our obligation. We need to do this by being engaged with the category, loving it for its high margin and traffic generation and being creative in our pitch. Our influence is greater than we and suppliers have allowed it to be over the years.

What I have written here is a subset of a much larger piece on greeting cards.

I hope you find the suggestions useful.

When you combine dogs and the Star Wars licence franchise you have a winner and that is what we have with this Father’s Day card from Hallmark.

We are featuring it full face for impulse purchase as people need to see the whole card and not just the top 20% as is often the case  with regular card fixturing.

I expect this card to sell out.

Coles supermarkets have a consistent front of store Father’s Day card pitch this week.

The location is strategic, something newsagents should consider if they =are not pitching Father’s Day cards similarly already.

The other smart move is a stand of birthday cards next to Father’s Day cards.

It pains me that Coles is doing cards so well across their fleet of stores.  I’d prefer newsagents were as consistent nationally in this commercially vital category.

I encourage newsagents to take a moment to ensure Father’s Day cards are being pitched front of store and that a birthday or other mix is pitched next to them. It is vital that every shopper entering and exiting the business sees the range as Father’s Day card purchases are more likely to be on impulse.

We have had the season up for a week and a half at the entrance and it is working well.

This placement on the lease line, at our busiest of two entrances, pitching a range of gentle faith cards is attracting new shoppers to the business.

You only have to look at Coles and Woolworths to understand the importance of a card offer to both chains. While they continue to adjust their offering, neither has taken there approach of the Whole Foods group in the us, yet. This type of display is common just inside their main entry door.

This is a simple pitch, deliberately placed with flowers – as we see in Coles today with at least one birthday card stand placed next to flowers near an entrance / exit.

I guess what interests me at Whole Foods is the bigger range of cards in this location.

You don’t often see retailers, including newsagents, actively promoting sympathy cards. Maybe, they don’t want to be seen to be promoting or making money off of death. Maybe they don’t like what they have to sell.

Sympathy is a card caption where the card itself is critical to striking the right tone the card giver wants for the situation. This is why range is critical and why people take more time choosing a sympathy card than some other captions.

The thing with expressing sympathy is … it is hard to do, hard to get just right. This is where we retailers play a key role, if we engage.

Too often, the only marketing activity newsagents engage in with sympathy cards is having them in the appropriate pockets in the card department. While this is okay for serving destination shoppers, it misses the opportunity with those who might otherwise, this time, not give a card.

For the sympathy category to help people express themselves, we need to reach outside the card department, in-store and elsewhere, and shine a light on expressing sympathy,. showing different cards, difference voices, through which ti can be done. We need to do this in a way that is respectful yet retail outcome focussed – we are in business after all.

Here his one way I ddi this with newsXpress recently, using video, for social media…

Maybe I missed it before but it feels like the extent of low-price Mother’s Day cards in supermarkets is bigger than before. This photo from a Woolworths supermarket shows only part of their low-priced Mother’s Day cards. It was better located than the more expensive cards.

Coles, on Swan Street Richmond, has a solid approach to Mother’s Day. I saw three floor units: next to stationery, at the checkout and at store exit. Appropriately apart from each other. Multiple locations makes sense if they want to capture the impulse purchase. We can learn from what they are doing.