About the Greeting Card Industry


Industry Synopsis

The Australian Greeting Card industry contributes a significant component to the Australian retail environment.

Below are some more details on:

  • Retail Sales
  • Retail Market Share
  • Publisher Market Share
  • Employment
  • Industry Trends

Retail Sales

  • Greeting Cards $500 million
  • Gift Wrappings $100 million

Consumption Rate 22 cards per person per annum in Australia is the third largest market for greeting cards per capita in the world.

There is estimated to be over 27,000 retail outlets selling greeting cards in Australia.

Retail Market Shares

  • Newsagents 33%
  • Discount Department Stores 16%
  • Card & Gift shop 16%
  • Supermarkets 12%
  • Other Miscellaneous Outlets 5%
  • Department Stores 7%
  • Deep Discount Outlets 9%
  • Australia Post 3%

(Note: This is best estimation on information available)

Publisher Market Share

In Australia, the greeting card industry is dominated by two major companies, contributing to over 50% market share

Employment

There are approximately 20,000 people employed within the greeting card industry.

Industry Trends

Ink on paper communications continue to grow despite a significant increase in competition from new avenues of communication. Examples being electronic greetings, e-mail, and SMS messaging. However, people still prefer the designs and sentiments (wording) of cards designed and made available from the professional resources of greeting card publishers. Although there is a trend toward less wordy cards, Australian consumers have a diverse range of tastes and preferences, traditional designs and words are still very popular.

The greeting card industry is extremely fashion focused and closely follows international fashion trends.

At this moment in time the following styles and genres are very popular:

Traditional

    • Floral designs are always popular and appeal to all age groups. These are generally painted and are more pastel in colour palette.
    • Editorial can be lengthy, although there is a trend for simple, more conversational wording, rather than prose.

Humour

    • Bright and attractive designs with either comic or photographic imagery work best.
    • Editorial can be risqué as well as safe humour.
    • There is a very strong trend towards sound and music cards in this category.

Photographic

    • Imagery utilising photographs is very strong at the moment covering all types of sending situations.
    • Colour, black and white, and sepia images are popular.

Handmade and 3-Dimensional (3D)

    • These types of greeting cards have experienced significant growth in recent times, however without a unique finish or innovative approach, they will struggle within the market place.

Click here to find out more about the Australian Greeting Card Association