Case Study

By Carolyn Edlund

Is This Greeting Card Line Ready for Retail?

In a recent consultation appointment, I worked with an artist who designed a line of greeting cards, and has a wholesale catalog in process. She was looking for help in evaluating her line as a whole, and wanted specific advice about making necessary changes, so that her products would be as saleable as possible.

We discussed sentiment categories, sizes, pricing, stock and envelope choices, cellophane, barcodes, terms, minimums, headers, display options, trade shows, related products, and marketing strategy.

Evaluating Categories

One of the most important factors in determining the success of a card line is balance. When a card artist schedules a consultation, we always start by evaluating the percentages of their line that fall into different categories, to be sure they are properly balanced for the marketplace.

We took a look at the percentage of her line greeted as Birthday, and decided to increase it by changing the greetings on some non-Birthday cards. If Birthday is not a full 50% of the line, it does not reflect market demand. Then we reviewed other categories, such as Friendship, Anniversary, Thank You, Sympathy, New Baby, etc.  If these sentiment categories are not in the right percentages, sales suffer there as well.

Blank Cards

I found that this artist had too many blank cards in her line, and was unsure of which ones to keep. We discussed how to choose the cards in her line that would work best as blanks.

Many artists produce blank cards only, which is a pet peeve of mine. If you are willing to turn away 90% of American buyers (who are looking for cards greeted on the inside), then go ahead and produce your blank line. Store buyers have little interest in looking at “yet another line of blanks,” no matter how pretty or appealing.

Consumer demand determines what sells, and you need to supply what they want in order to be successful. I give a pass on the issue of blank cards to artists primarily creating paintings or drawings who just want to sell packaged boxes of blank notecards as a sideline. End of rant.

Fine Tuning the Line

Another crucial process in getting a line into stellar shape is to review each individual card.  The image on the card grabs the customer’s attention, but the message will sell it. Is the message clear and complete? Does it work? Take a look at your own line, and evaluate each one. Ask yourself, “Who would buy this card and why? Who would they send it to?” If you don’t know, make some changes.

My client’s line needed some adjusting, particularly because she had some categories which aren’t popular enough to include in a small collection. Several of them were in the “Bon Voyage” category, which accounts for about .0001% of card sales in my estimation. We worked together to change the greetings and put them in more popular categories rather than let them languish as unsold inventory.

What to Toss

Other categories generally not worth including (unless you have a large line or specialty market) are New Home, Good Luck, Retirement, Bridal Shower, Baby Shower, I’m Sorry, and Pet Sympathy. Seasonal (holiday) cards of all types and cards for relatives should also not be included in small card lines. Some people may take exception to this, citing their Christmas card collection. Include that holiday if you must, but be aware that returns/exchanges and other issues may surface with your retailers.

Pricing

My client felt unsure about her pricepoint, and also whether she should be printing the retail price on her card. We adjusted the retail price for her, and I strongly suggested the price be printed on each card.  I do not know of a single retailer who has the time or interest to stick prices on greeting cards.

Artists should become acquainted with average market prices for their type of product. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel on this with an unusual retail pricepoint. For example, $2.17 is not a card price. Prices typically end with .25, .49, .50, .75, .95 or .99, and the public is accustomed to this.

Goals

A card line consultation and review encompasses many topics. We address the line as a whole, and every aspect of the processed involved in selling it – making it ready for retail.

When evaluating your own card line, work towards accomplishing these two goals:

• Adjust the line to make it easier and more appealing for the customer to choose your cards over your competition
• Remove any barriers to the sales process, both at wholesale and retail

In this competitive industry, small details can make a huge difference. Does your card line measure up?