Why it matters:
- Big-name brands dominate, but independent makers bring fresh options that appeal to younger consumers.
- Startups can enter the market for relatively low costs.
- Opportunities exist in cards with authentic messaging and cards that reflect a movement or that help people find words for difficult situations.
Predictions of the end of greeting cards in the digital age have been greatly exaggerated.
The category is massive: According to the Greeting Card Association (GCA), U.S. consumers purchase 6.5 billion greeting cards annually. About 1.5 billion purchases are for Christmas, with Mother's Day coming in second. Greeting cards are dominated by two players, Hallmark and American Greetings, accounting for 80% of the market. GCA estimates the retail dollar size of the greeting card market at $7 billion.
But it's the remaining 20% less traditional side of the market where innovation is exploding. This segment consists of small independent makers — about 3,500 in number.
"Over the past few decades, the market has moved to smaller publishers, largely because you can start a greeting card business for relatively low costs," Carlos Llanso, GCA's Director of Strategic Initiatives, told CO—.
These independent makers drive the lion's share of creativity in messaging and card-giving occasions. "Hallmark and American Greetings may be the brands everyone knows, but when you buy a card, the brand doesn't matter, the message does," Llanso continued.
This emergence of independent makers means a lot of voices creating cards, and messages can be very targeted. "Every time I think I've seen it all, I see something new," he noted.
Millennials and Generation Z consumers are connecting with and supporting their family and friends through cards. 'They have friends they will text or post happy birthday to, but then they have those who are "card-worthy."'
Carlos Llanso, Director of Strategic Initiatives, The Greeting Card Association
A greeting cards revival: 'Millennials saved our industry'
The need to connect drives greeting card purchases, and pandemic-era stay-at-home mandates get a little credit for fueling that. "A lot of industries were hit by COVID, but greeting cards grew," said Llanso. "If they couldn't be there physically, greeting cards allowed for a meaningful connection."
Sales have remained consistently strong, with GCA data showing that 9 out of 10 U.S. households purchase greeting cards. While the typical purchaser is female and ages 40 to 65, the core consumer is shifting younger.
"The millennial generation is now the largest buyers of greeting cards from a dollar standpoint," said George White, Founder of Up with Paper, a pop-up greeting card company, and Past President of GCA, on "Greeting Cards," episode 29 of "The Economics of Everyday Things" podcast from the Freakonomics Radio Network. Baby boomers still buy more cards unitwise than other generations, but Generation X's purchases had dipped, worrying the market. "[Millenials] saved our industry," said White.
While it may seem surprising that the digital generation embraces such old-school communication, Llanso points out that this behavior aligns with retro trends like buying vinyl records, using film, knitting, and grandmillennial traditional interior design, as well as the slow movement trend, which encourages more deliberate living.
"You take time to pick the card, write it, seal it, mail it. A lot of time, thought and love goes into it. And that carries through to when someone receives it," Llanso said. "And it adds value [to greeting cards] that you don't get an immediate reaction."
Millennials and Generation Z consumers are connecting with and supporting their family and friends through cards. "They have friends they will text or post happy birthday to, but then they have those who are 'card-worthy,'" Llanso explained.
For the card-worthy in their lives, they want a card with a design and message that reflects each unique relationship. That may translate into edgy, deprecating, or humorous messaging for traditional occasions like birthdays and romance, like this one: "I love you enough to build Ikea furniture with you," from paper&stuff, a woman-owned card company that was featured in "10 Makers to Watch in 2024," from Stationery Trends magazine.
"What's interesting about card sending is that every generation makes it their own," said Sarah Schwartz, Stationery Trends and The Paper Nerd blog editor. "Millenials are not occasion-driven. They don't want to be told to send a card on a specific day. They want to see a card with a good design that makes them think of someone."
It's opened the doors for untraditional days of celebration. Galentine's Day is a prime example that has grown over the past few years, creating a new market for those not partnered on Valentine's Day but who want to celebrate their female friend. Cultural awareness is also growing for holidays like Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, as card-giving occasions.
Empathy and social-movement occasions: Recovery, loss, ageism
Message authenticity is important to younger consumers and has led to cards that deal with many of life's heavier topics that were not traditionally acknowledged. For example, The Noble Paperie has a line of cards dealing with miscarriage, infertility, and pregnancy complications.
"There is more awareness," said Founder Katelyn Woolley, who launched the line in 2016 following two pregnancy losses and a high-risk pregnancy and 34-day neonatal intensive care unit stay. "People are more receptive to hearing it and being OK with sharing it. There used to be a shame or stigma attached that is lessening. If you're struggling, it's a way for people to support you."
The Noble Paperie cards are sold online and at retail at bookstores, stationery stores, small grocery markets, and hospitals, and have expanded to the LGBTQIA space, following Woolley's daughter, who was assigned male at birth, identifying as female.
The line also includes everyday occasions like birthdays and cards that address grief overall. Woolley believes generic sympathy cards may fade out as shoppers seek more niche designs and meaningful messages perfectly suited to the specific receiver.
Cards expressing empathy and support for events like a serious or terminal illness, sobriety and recovery, mental health, and milestones like menopause are all booming niches. Em & Friends, whose website notes a focus on real, authentic ways to communicate about sickness and suffering, offers messages like, "During puberty, it felt like everybody was watching us. During menopause, it feels like nobody is watching us. So grateful you and I get to watch out for each other." Or there is the more serious, "No card can make this better. But I’m giving you one anyway," for those with cancer.
Social movements impact cards, and independent makers can be more nimble than big brands in bringing those messages to market. For example, Jeanine Kwoh’s Kwohtations line celebrates gender transition surgery and new pronouns.
Stationery Trend’s Schwartz points out that many cards in this [empathy] segment "help people find the language to have a conversation."
Some cards take a social stance. Jan Golden started Age-Friendly Vibes, her line of age-positive greeting cards, at age 60, following a career as a web developer because she was tired of the you-decline-as-you-get-older messages in birthday cards.
"Jokes about getting old are getting old," Golden said. "There's strong research that how you feel about getting older can affect your longevity by as much as 7.5 years."
The line is now three years old and available online and in card stores nationally. More importantly, Golden believes it has sparked a conversation about ageism awareness.
"Most makers don't know their cards can be insulting, and I can't tell people not to buy them. I'm not the humor police," she said. "But the line presents an alternative."
Even more traditional makers like Mary Englebright have created lines in the activist space. Her Vote Collection features an edgier tone with messages like "Vote. The Constitution is not going to uphold itself."
[Read: Retro Rewards: How Businesses Are Monetizing the Nostalgia Trend to Win Over New Customers]
Environmental and digital impact on greeting cards
Millennials and Gen Z don't abandon values like sustainability in card selection. Options made on recycled paper or derived from alternative sources like hemp, are important, said GCA's Llanso. But environmental awareness doesn't translate to a digital preference.
"The idea that social media is killing greeting cards has not happened," he continued, adding that social media is the maintenance of relationships to keep people connected daily while greeting cards help nurture the relationship on a deeper level.
E-cards have not taken off the way people expected years ago. Digital tools are all useful, but the value is not the same, continued Llanso. "There's a reason Mother's Day is a big sales day for greeting cards. Your mother deserves more than a text."
Schwartz agreed, "If you want to see your grandma's handwriting, you can open a card she sent you when you were 13 and it's like it was yesterday. We haven't replicated that with a phone yet."
It's not hard for the industry to stay relevant, Llanso asserted. "Human nature is to want to support and be supported, loved, and remembered, and have people think well of us. That's what the greeting card industry is all about."
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