Card Industry News

It's been a busy week in the news for greetings cards. Sharon Little, Chief Executive of the Greetings Card Association, appeared on the BBC Breakfast News to discuss the 30% price increase in Royal Mail's stamps and Clinton Cards announced poor results.

With many retailers relying on card sales to bring core bread and butter revenue and footfall into their stores, the sharp increase in price of postage stamps is a concern. Will such a noticeable rise alter the card buying and sending habits of our card crazy country? We do love our cards in the UK and send an average of 31 greetings cards a year each. Our total annual spend on single cards in the UK is £1.39 billion which supports over 100,000 card related jobs. Christmas card sales raise over £50 million a year for charities too. Does this mean they too may lose even more, much needed, revenue in the coming years? Will e-cards and the internet take over and radically alter the card industry in the way that the internet has forever altered other sectors like book selling?

Well, when hysteria strikes it always helps to look at the facts first. So let's do the sums on this shock 30% price increase. If we each send 31 cards a year on average and we post them all using first class stamps we are currently spending £14.26 (31 x £0.46). Increasing the price to 60p each means we will be spending £18.60 instead. This is an annual spending increase of £4.34 to show our loved ones how much we care.

All age groups still love receiving cards for special celebrations and sending them definitely strengthens relationships. According to a recent study people aged 18-24 need to receive at least nine cards to feel valued on their birthday (that's in addition to texts, calls and messages on social networks like Facbook and Twitter). The relationships we care enough about to celebrate, by posting greetings cards, are unlikely to be changed overnight and, if anything, the higher cost of stamps is even more likely to show the recipient how much they are truly valued.

Because we tend to give cards to those closest to us, the recipients are often literally close to us too, so the majority of our cards tend to be delivered by hand (we find this especially true in the handmade sector). If we take this into account as well, I'm not sure that this headline making price rise will have a noticeable effect on the card sending. We still love sending and receiving cards in the UK and an extra £4 a year is hardly worth worrying about. Royal Mail has struggled to make profit for several years now and if you think about what it actually takes to get a card from you to a friend in Scotland the next day, 60p doesn't seem too bad.

**** 1 April 2012 ***** Additional note since first posting this:

I just saw this great comment from a reader at the bottom of the BBC article on this subject:

"Those complaining that the post is to expensive and the internet is 'free' are conveniently forgetting the £500 or so they paid for their computer, plus software, plus say £10 a month for broadband. Not so free now is it? For those on fixed incomes like pensioners this is a double blow on top of their pension freeze. Buy a computer? Only worth it if you send more than 1800 letters in 5 years."

You can read the BBC article on the stamp price increases by clicking here

John Proctor was one of Blue Eyed Sun's very first customers and stocked our beautiful handmade Glass Enamel greeting cards in his Kings Road branch of Scribbler over ten years ago. Since then both of our companies have taken different paths in terms of design and product, but I have continued to admire John's work and his success as a niche retailer in the competitive card market.

It's surprising Scribbler have taken so long to open a branch in Brighton, as our local demographic would have flocked to his unique offering in a heartbeat. They are here now though and customers clearly love it.

Sadly, it was the closing down of another long standing customer of ours, Graffiti (who had not upgraded the shop for a long time), that has opened the door for Scribbler into Brighton. Well situated on Cranbourne Street, a busy thoroughfare between Churchill Square Shopping Centre and the Laines, I really like how they have brightened up the unit and made the most of the space. As you can see, the shop was already very busy when I passed by a week or two after it opened. I'm sure it will be one of their best.

We were pleased to be included in a lovely article on stitched cards celebrating British Crafts in last month's Progressive Greetings.

If you didn't get the chance to read it, here's what I said about the popularity of the stitched look and our new Vintage card range:

"I think there is a subconscious desire to counter the digital annihilation of all material things. Books, CD’s, photos and other items we used to actually be able to touch and feel are predominantly purchased digitally and I think we have a real need to feel handmade objects in our lives. They have so much more soul than computers and gadgets.

The recession has meant that many of us are spending more time in our homes and we have focused on saving money by recycling, mending and making our own things. Because of this interest in crafts like knitting, stitching and card making, sales of handmade products are booming.

Selecting the fabrics she wants to work with to create the designs for the Vintage card range Jo, my wife and business partner, hand cuts a variety of shapes and motifs which she then selects from to start building the artwork. They are all laid out on a linen base and then machine stitched on. Parts of the captions are free stitched by machine, which really adds to the handmade feel. After this the designs are scanned and laid up for printing and embossing. When they come back from the printers they are hand finished with jewels to complete the look.

With such a strong reputation for handmade cards we want to keep producing ranges that have that handmade feel and offer great value to our customers. I think scanning original stitched artworks is a natural progression for us. The designs are nostalgic and fun, but with the contemporary colourful look we bring to much of our work."

Sewing artwork for cards is a fast growing trend and the Progressive Greetings Magazine article features over a dozen greetings card publishers using the technique including Black Olive, Soul, Pootle, Inkdrops, Belly Button Designs, Lou Mills, Cinnamon Aitch, Stop the Clock Designs, Tanya Palmer, Open Box Designs, Carlton Cards, Design Hog and a new range called Freddie and Freya by CardMIX. The article excluded some of our favourite forerunners, of this current wave of embroidered greetings cards, who are also worth a mention: like Vicky King's sewn card ranges for Paper Rose, seamstress Claire Sowden and Abigail Mill's stitched works of art.

Click here to order Blue Eyed Sun's Vintage designs for your shop.

Click here to subscribe to Progressive Greetings Magazine.

Our predictions on key trends for greetings cards in 2012 were featured in this month's Gift Focus Magazine. Last week Editor, Sarah Reeve, also used some Blue Eyed Sun designs to illustrate her insightful seminar at Spring Fair International on forthcoming gift trends for Christmas 2012. Transcribed below from the magazine, our predictions are...

"There is going to be a real trend for stitching, crafting, nostalgia, vintage and Britishness. With the Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee we are going to see one of Britain's great strengths this year: Creativity. There's also going to be a real sense of nostalgia so  think we will see a lot of craft based work from artists and designers. Because of the recession a lot of people have been making and repairing their own bits and pieces using traditional skills like knitting and sewing. Because of this we will also see these homemade crafts becoming more popular. This year will be very big for handmade."

Click here to request more information on all of our stitched Vintage designs.

Retail guru, Mary Portas, is back with a brand new series for Channel 4. Having watched her work wonders on retailers' stores in previous series, this is a fantastic opportunity for any of our customers who are struggling to expand in the current climate. The TV exposure alone will be a major boost to your business. Couple this with Mary's expert advice on branding, store layout, buying, customer service, etc and this could be just the catalyst you need to take your business to the next level. Remember, amazing things happen when you take massive action!

To apply to take part in this incredible opportunity contact maryp@optomen.co.uk or telephone 020 32275896.

Blue Eyed Sun have updated and improved on their internet presence with a new website, a new blog and presence on social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. A fantastic new video introducing the company to buyers has also been added to their home page at www.blueeyedsun.co.uk

The public site gives a taste of what the company offers as well as information on their latest launches, trade show stands, news and stockists. There is also an improved trade login area, where customers can view all designs, place orders, save orders and create wish lists. Designs can be chosen by range, by occasion, by what's new or by special offer and navigation is fast and easy. Customers can also change their passwords, update their contact information, track web order history and re-order. Payments by credit card are taken securely through Sagepay and there is a useful video giving buyers a whistle stop tour of the new features.

With 30 million Facebook users in the UK, half of which logon daily and spend an average of 22 minutes each there, Blue Eyed Sun has joined the social media revolution. Mainly as a way of connecting with buyers and fans who like to use these platforms and to help customers promote their businesses.

Like Blue Eyed Sun on Facebook by clicking here.

Follow Blue Eyed Sun on Twitter by clicking here.

Network with Blue Eyed Sun on Linkedin by clicking here.

Blue Eyed Sun has rolled out the use of the new Copywatch logo from the Giftware Association

on all of its marketing materials including their brochure, website and their trade show stands.

This logo and the intellectual Property Protection support from the GA sends a clear signal

to copycats and any companies seeking to profit from unlicensed Blue Eyed Sun artwork.

Copywatch Logo in Blue Eyed Sun's 2012 Brochure