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cardsharp
A Renaissance
Era? Is our passion for online buying diminishing and does that mean an opportunity for a renaissance for bricks and mortar? Quite rightly, noted Cardsharp, the media has been full of the cost-ofliving crisis and the rampant inflation threatening us. We, in the greeting card industry, saw this coming over a year ago, when extortionate increases in container costs, paper price and Chinese factory prices, were already having a huge impact on the cost of producing the product that rocks our sector. But could some good come out of all of this? Cardsharp will not dwell on the cost-ofliving crisis in too much detail as the main points are covered by comments in this month’s Viewpoints section, but the cost rises are obviously a major concern for publishers, retailers (whether clicks or bricks) and indeed the UK consumer. But Cardsharp just wanted to highlight what he feels might be a trend developing
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
underneath all the apocalyptic headlines. Whisper it very quietly, but is footfall to bricks and mortar making a comeback at the expense of online platforms? Two years ago, when Covid and lockdowns hit, we all still wanted to eat, buy clothes, gadgets and greeting cards. And initially our main option was online. The specialist shops stayed closed longer than we ever imagined and the real fear of catching Covid depressed footfall, even in shops that were allowed to stay open. This was obviously gold dust to ecommerce businesses. The gulf between online and a struggling high street had never been greater as online sales boomed. In the fashion world, the once seemingly invincible Topshop went bust. Department store chain Debenhams, the cornerstone of so many town centres, also hit the wall. In our own industry, the wellregarded and well-run, Cards Galore group Top: Renaissance painter Michelangelo recognised the importance of the physical over the virtual! Above right: The greeting card industry benefits from healthier high streets. Below: What percentage can bricks win back over clicks?
of stores, was forced into administration by the almost complete lack of commuters and workers in London, while Paperchase went into administration again, only to rise Phoenix-like out the ashes with plenty of stock in store, that had never been fully paid for. Even our biggest high street specialist greeting card chain, Card Factory, saw its share price plummet and had to renegotiate its funding requirements.
Meanwhile, Moonpig and the other main online card operators boomed. Moonpig’s sales alone went from £173 million pre-Covid to £368 million during the pandemic and underwent a public flotation where its share price rose to 340 pence a share at one point. This was while Card Factory’s share price was hovering around the 30p mark. Yet Card Factory had a long history of making significant profits, far higher than Moonpig. One can’t help feeling that Moonpig’s ridiculously high valuation was based, in Cardsharp’s view, on the fact that it was valued by the City as a tech company and not a greeting card retailer. Cardsharp believes that although Covid is still with us, the crisis period has only been over for around four months now. On
