ETD: 926 G&DA Quote of the Week; Smart retailing; Greeting
Card Market Is Experiencing a Generational Shift
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Oct 20 13:26:44 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0926 October 20 2005
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] G&DA Quote of the Week
[3] Smart retailing
[4] Greeting Card Market Is Experiencing a Generational Shift
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Are you ready for professional help (not the
psychiatrist)? In this month's issue of Gifts &
Dec, there is a great quote from a retailer,
which got me to thinking. How often are we in
need of professionals but we don't use them. What about you? What do you do?
Remember we talked about smart retailing and
knowing your local market. Well, I was quite
impressed by an approach Home Depot took this
past week helping locals in their community. You
should consider a similar move - know your community.
Who sends our greeting cards? Your mother or
grandmother? You will be surprised at the
results as reported by Pam Danziger in a new survey her company did.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] G&DA Quote of the Week
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"It was time to turn our marketing over to
professionals, even if it cost us more than we
could really afford." — retailer Susan Peltier in
the October issue of Gifts & Decorative Accessories.
Quinn Halford, Editor In Chief
Matthew Kalash, Managing Editor
www.giftanddec.com.
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
That is an excellent quote and very timely. Too
often business owners believe they should do
everything themselves, either because they can't
afford to hire others or they have big
egos. When somebody says to me that they can't
afford to hire a professional.... (whatever)... I
reply "you can't afford not to."
The real problem is deciding on a
professional. Too often professionals are hired
based on price, which is not the best way to do
so. You need to determine your capabilities and
decide where you are weak and what you should
hire. For example, while I am not a lawyer, I
did put a son through law school, and I do have a
lot of business experience dealing with
lawyers. So, when it comes to legal work, I go
for price. However, if I am dealing in an
unknown situation (like we were when we set up a
global digital currency company), I hired the
best attorney I could find. Same holds through with accounting.
If you are weak with marketing, hire a
professional. But know what you need and what
you are getting. There are plenty of resources
available for you to determine what you need and
where to get help. And ask you colleagues or
business associations to which you belong.
George
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[3] Smart retailing
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A couple of issues back I mentioned how local
retailers should take advantage of what is going
on in their community and cater to those
needs. I just learned of a unique approach that Home Depot did in Houston.
There is a large Orthodox Jewish community in
Houston, and this week is the start of Succos, a
seven day holiday that requires Jews to build a
temporary "building" outside their home called a
Sukkot. The building is to have at least three
walls and a roof which one can see through to see
the stars. The roof (called s'chach) needs to be
of material grown in the earth, but not attached
to the earth, e.g., branches, palm leaves, bamboo
poles, etc. and it must let in at most half of
the available sun-light, creating a majority of shade.
The cost of these structures is very
expensive. In a local outlet, they are selling a
6 x 8' sukkot for $800. An 8 x 12' is
$1,500. And in it there is approximately $200 of materials.
Well, Home Depot advertised "you can build your
own sukkot and we can help." They put together
kits and instructions on how to build your own, and obviously a lot cheaper.
Last week it rained in the NYC area (for 8 days),
so religious Jews built their's on Sunday and
Monday. We have a larger religious community
here in Northern NJ, and on Sunday Home Depot was
packed with men trying to get material for
building or fixing their own. I couldn't
understand why that Home Depot didn't do what Houston did.
Which brings up another interesting point - be
consistent across your chain. Unless, of course
Houston was a test market for the concept for the entire chain.
As retailers we should be aware of our community
and what we may provide and where we can also make good money.
George
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[4] Greeting Card Market Is Experiencing a Generational Shift
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--The prime market for greeting cards used to be
middle-aged women, but now it is GenXers and younger shoppers
In a new study of the $36 billion stationery
goods market, including greeting cards, social
stationery, gift wrap and partyware, paper
crafting and other stationery, Unity Marketing
found the most dynamic change in the market is a
generational shift from older consumers to younger.
Traditionally, middle-aged consumers (45+) were
the mainstay of the greeting card and stationery
industry, but not anymore. Today consumers 44
years and younger take the lead as the most
active buyers of all things stationery. For
example, consumers aged 25-to-34 years spent the
most on average in the stationery category in the
past year, or $118, as compared to only $90 spent
by shoppers aged 45-to-55 years.
This generational shift means dramatic changes to
the greeting card marketplace and foretells
disruption for companies that are not attuned to
the needs and desires of the younger
consumer. This shift toward a younger consumer
represents both an exciting new opportunity and
very real threat for the future of many greeting card companies and retailers.
The research reveals the greatest vulnerability
for traditional greeting card marketers is found
among the younger consumers. A psychographic
analysis of greeting card consumers found that
while some younger consumers are enthusiastic
greeting crad buyers and senders who embrace the
traditional greeting card paradigm, about half of
the greeting card consumers are not convinced
that a greeting card is the best way to
communicate. These consumers are ready, eager
and willing to accept a new alternative to
pre-printed greeting cards. They buy cards
because that is what is expected of then, not
because they enjoy the process or feel an
overwhelming reason to send a card. Whenever a
consumer is motivated by habit, even guilt, that
is a very bad sign for the future of the business.
Digital cameras, personal websites, email,
instant messaging, text messaging and a whole
host of other communications media popular with
young people today are making paper greetings
obsolete and/or just too plain slow. But for
these consumers e-greetings are not perceived as
an effective alternative. They are interesting,
but somehow not real or authentic.
All one needs to do is watch college and high
school aged youths today in their
electronics-empowered lifestyles to realize that
greeting cards don’t have a place in their
future. Given young people’s new ways of
communicating, this generation is not going to
get excited about receiving a greeting card in
their mail box, unless it is wrapped around a
check or a $20 dollar bill. The old greeting
card paradigm isn’t relevant to their lives
anymore and greeting card marketers are well
advised to look at the future with no blinders on.
Make-your-own cards are now in vogue
While the sales of greeting cards are on the
decline, growth in the stationery goods market is
coming from increasing consumer demand for other
memory and paper expression products, including
gifting and party goods, such as gift wrap,
ribbons and partyware, social and computer
stationery and paper crafting supplies for
scrapbooking and make-your-own cards. More
people find make-your-own cards a more personal
alternative to buying a $3 pre-printed card off the shelf.
Traditional greeting cards were an early 20th
century marketing solution designed around
technology and consumer expectations from the
early 1900’s. The consumer needs that greeting
cards were created to fill — emotional
communications that build and strengthen
relationships — haven’t gone away, but the market
is ripe for someone to come along with a new 21st
century solution that fills that need for consumers today.
For more information on the study, click here
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/cards/
Pam Danziger, President
Unity Marketing
Author of Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury
to the Masses — as well as the Classes
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/
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