The Greeting Card Association (GCA), the U.S. trade association representing publishers and suppliers to the greeting card and social expression industry, reports that the industry continues to generate healthy annual revenues of $7 to $8 billion.
Prior to the healthy annual revenue report, there was some concern within the industry that social media may have replaced greeting cards. Quite the contrary, according to Patti Stracher, EVP of the GCA, who recently said “The widespread use of social media has increased the value of connection, adding a new dimension to how people communicate, but greeting cards continue to play an invaluable role in our social culture.” Adding, “human beings crave personal communication in an increasingly impersonal world, and greeting cards are one of the tools to satisfy that craving.”
The industry is highly saturated and is full of innovation — from sound, to light, to motion, making it increasingly difficult for cards to STAND OUT on crowded store shelves.
It is clear that cards sell based upon both design and sentiment, therefore, enhancing existing designs by adding special effects that will make a card stand out on a store shelf and in a customer’s hands is CRITICAL! Consider the possibilities of adding scent, texture, glitter or gloss to a design to add just the right PUNCH!
We partner with the largest greeting card retailers in the United States, and also work closely with individual card and stationery designers who want their products to have a special look.
Greeting cards & stationery make up a significant percentage of H&H’s existing business. In fact, we have enhanced more than 16 million greeting cards in 2013 alone!
