news review
Chris Mitchell
Heart 2 Heart:
So how was it for you?
“It was an interesting trading period to be
quite honest – in the early part of the month
we thought we’d be struggling on gifts, and
Surveys rarely return full marks for a question, but 100 per cent of retailers that GT
ultimately we found that while we were down
asked stated that Christmas is still a key season for their business. As the season
in general gifts compared to last year, the
retains its importance, GT approached independent retailers from around the UK to
seasonal element of what we did was up. In
fi nd out how their business faired in the pre-Christmas period.
fact, anything that was seasonally oriented,
The majority of retailers questioned believed that sales were roughly the same
like carte blanche or soft product, did well.
as last year. While some were a little up, others were a little down – the consensus
“The early part of the season we found was quite strong on cards –
seemed to be that while there were very marginal variations on last year, on
although ultimately we got to the stage where we were adrift on counter
average, pre-Christmas sales were the same as last year. There was a general
cards. However, our higher standard cards were quite good – some of
agreement that retailers are looking to improve their sales in future, but, as Miss
the UK Greetings range worked a treat, they were one of the highlights.
Darby of Card Cabin states, “we can’t grumble, considering all the companies
Paper Rose also performed well. However, general stuff that usually
around us that have fi nished trading.”
sells well didn’t do as well – the whole thing was very, very, very, slightly
While sales may have remained consistent with the year before, it is generally
down.
accepted that footfall has dropped – and that those who made it into the store
“Our footfall was certainly down – there is no doubt about that. We
spent more to help balance the books.
formed the impression that people, in the diffi cult economic conditions,
Part of this decreased footfall has been attributed to competition from all
were looking for bargains, particularly by using the internet. However,
sides of the market – such as shoppers looking to bag bargains online, or the
unit sales were up, so once we got people in store we were actually
diversifi cation of other retailers such as department stores as they try to cash in on
selling them more. However, footfall was defi nitely down.”
the Christmas period. As Terry Harvey of From The Heart put it, to “take the cream
of the season without committing to the rest of the year.”
Promotions also proved unpopular with retailers, with most opting out of
any. However, those who did felt that the benefi ts were not that great, and the
promotions didn’t increase sales – rather, they just shifted the free items, and didn’t
Terry Harvey
encourage more purchases.
From The Heart:
The competition for shoppers was absolutely
much tougher this year. When people ask ‘Has
the recession affected me?’ I say no, not in
terms of customers and their ability to spend.
Caroline Boot
The difference is in the competition, it is much
Forget Me Not:
more aggressive – supermarkets, department
I don’t think footfall is down, although we do have a very regular
stores, BHS, Debenhams – they have all put
cliental. I don’t think people were spending quite as heavily per
a much greater effort into selling the kind of
purchase, but because we put the stock out quite early the
things we do. The diversifi cation of other retailers in an attempt to take
purchasing was more spread out over the period.
the cream of the season, without committing to the rest of the year, has
We’ve had to move to be more price-sensitive. On the larger
been fi erce this year.
codes, £3.99 or £4.99, we always we used to do really, really
Cross-selling was very important to us. We make a big deal about
well with those, and with the satin padded ones, price was not a
selling bags and try to keep everything by the door – it is a key cause of
problem there. But now people are more conscious about what
our success – the reason are sales are up is because of cross-selling. If
they are spending, especially with the major supermarkets – you
I had to guess at a percentage of cross-sales we do, it would be around
have to be more careful.
70 to 80 per cent. It’s not down to promotion – the way we’ve promoted
sales is by selling our cards alongside good quality giftware. A lot of gift
retailers are guilty of dumbing down their giftware. What we do is copy a
lot of the lines that John Lewis sell. We’re a card shop-cum-John Lewis,
and that’s where the money is.”
Susie Abel
Jarrold:
For Christmas cards, we had a good year this year. In fact, we
ended up over Christmas with a three per cent growth compared
with last year. At the start of December we had some initial
Adam Llewellyn
worries about the postal strike, although in reality it didn’t seem Thoughts Cards:
to have any effect at all. I was pleasantly surprised by how well Christmas was
we did – box packs, singles, all the card types performed equally solid for us in
well. total, but was a
While three per cent is good, last year was a particularly slow starter with
diffi cult year, so we did have soft numbers to compete against, at least for October and footfall results at
November. December was actually quite good, so we didn’t expect to beat it this year. all stores showing
However, all three months performed equally well in terms of growth. an inclination to
In terms of competition, because we’re an independent store, and we look for quality or wait for sales
a point of difference – we don’t touch the budget market at all. Therefore people are used to and offers. That
coming in to Jarrod for quality product, and I think that market stays quite static. said, we are in a
Our Christmas department has been in the same position in the store for years, and we’ve slightly different
got a loyalty with our customers that really shows at Christmas time. The Christmas section mix of locations
goes down quite well – we do a lot of cross-sales thanks to having all the goods in one place. for an independent Card retailer, following much closer to high street
However, we did a three for two promotion on Christmas wrap this year, to keep in line with trends – good or bad.
the competition.
16 www.greetingstoday.co.uk
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122