Challenge 2009
This year could be make or break for
many card retailers. Here’s our essential
guide to surviving and thriving in 2009.
Are Are yyou up up fofor r it?it?
t’s not politically correct to use the term
I
‘tough’ when describing business these
A tsunami of bad news
days. Words like ‘Harsh’, ‘diffi cult’ or
‘uncertain’ are equally frowned-upon.
You can’t open a newspaper or switch on a TV without being bombarded with all the
As for ‘bleak’ – well you know what we grisly details of the credit crunch.
mean…
The media is often accused of spreading doom and gloom and talking us into
The Chinese have a more cryptic
way of putting it: ‘We are cursed to live in
recession. This time however, it’s hard to ignore the facts.
interesting times’ they say, which is not much
The Bank of England has let slip that the UK was in recession as far back as the
different when you think about it.
middle of 2008 and the downturn will continue well into 2009.
Today’s captains of industry understand
The Bank also described the fi nancial crisis as ‘the biggest since WW1’ and
the language of business and are schooled
in its nuances. They are more likely to use
predicted that conditions will get worse before they get better.
‘challenging’ when faced with testing times, Defl ation is the latest enemy with fi gures set to decline rather than stay fl at as
because although it is code for all of the
previously thought. A fall in infl ation could force yet another cut in interest rates on top
above, ‘challenging’ adds positivity to the
realism. It says, ‘I’m up for it’, ‘’we’re ready’ or
of the recent 1.5% reduction.
‘bring it on!’
But experts are also predicting that more interest rate cuts are on the cards as the
There’s no doubt that 2009 will be a
Bank works to kickstart the economy and could go below 2%, - the lowest Bank of
landmark year for many businesses in the card
England interest rate since 1694!
industry. Nobody has a crystal ball, least of all
Greetings Today, but one view that’s coming
Bank offi cials have also said that although a UK recession would be ‘deep’, it would
through loud and clear is that retailers, buyers also be relatively short-lived.
and publishers alike feel that sales of greetings
Meanwhile, the unemployment fi gures have jumped and could hit two million within
cards will not dip dramatically in 2009.
Such a sunny outlook is all very well, but
months according to offi cial fi gures. The number of fi rms being liquidated is now up by
even if sales of greetings cards stay fairly 26.3% on a year ago. BT also announced it was slashing 10.000 jobs by March and
constant, there’s no guarantee that the same
said 4,000 had already gone.
number of retailers will be doing the selling
The credit crunch is biting business hard too with banks reluctant to lend to
or that the price of cards will remain the
same.
businesses or pass on the Government’s £500 billion bailout of the banking sector.
One of the great fears for the economy
Businesses of all shapes and sizes are reporting a dramatic shift in relationships with
in the coming months is defl ation, where the
their bank, with overdraft being denied or renegotiated at much higher rates.
price of goods or services goes into decline.
Defl ation is just as much a threat as infl ation
Entrepreneurs too are fi nding it much more diffi cult to attract fi nance for solid
because if prices start to fall then the economy business propositions.
stagnates.
Germany is now offi cially in recession.
Lower prices would mean existing retailers
facing even tougher competition for card
Chinese industrial output in October rose at its slowest rate for seven years - and
sales from within the industry, whether it’s
China has cut taxes on more than a quarter of exports, to stimulate trade.
from supermarkets, chain operators, garden
22 Greetings Today
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