MAJORITY OF GREETING CARD PUBLISHERS ANTICIPATE REVENUE INCREASES IN NEXT 12 MONTHS

Early Results of GCA’s First Comprehensive Benchmarking Survey Shows Health of Industry

NEW YORK CITY – May 21, 2018 – The Greeting Card Association (GCA) announced preliminary results of its first comprehensive benchmarking survey of the industry.  

Among the key findings:

  • When compared to the same period three years ago, more than half of card makers, designers and publishers surveyed said the industry has either greatly improved, improved or remained the same.
  • When asked to rate the effectiveness of selling options via wholesale, nearly half (46%) of card makers, designers and publishers rate trade shows as highly effective.
  • Most sales representatives want to see new card styles three months (or fewer) prior to selling.
  • A majority of suppliers had more than 100 card and stationery clients, with a mix of retailer and card maker, designer and publisher clients.

The GCA-sponsored survey was developed and conducted by MPI Group (www.mpi-group.com) from December 2017 to March 2018 and gathered information from four groups of industry stakeholders:  card makers, publishers and designers; retailers; sales representatives and affiliated companies (such as printing and paper companies).  The data collected from all four groups is considered statistically significant and will be analyzed further in the coming weeks and shared with GCA members and survey participants.

Complete survey results will be available via a Webinar this summer as well social media and news releases posted to www.greetingcard.org.

About the Greeting Card Association (GCA)

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the GCA is the U.S. trade association of the greeting card and social expression industry.  Established in 1941, the GCA represents greeting card and stationery publishers, and industry suppliers.

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