You can email, tweet and Facebook as much as you please, but greeting cards clearly are here to stay. Far from being some antiquated product that only fuddyduddies snail mail to each another, greeting cards still are made, bought, sold and sent in remarkable numbers.
Let's face it it's quick and easy to send an electronic greeting, and no one expects that we will all go back to paper stationery and stamps as our sole means of communication. It is true that when someone graduates from college, you could always zap off a congratulatory message electronically and transfer some money into their PayPal account. However, that seems a little cold and distant. There's nothing like the happy sentiments aroused by a paper product that comes to your door with a sincere tribute to the admittedly important accomplishment of completing college. For the recipient, there's also the happy possibility of some money in hand accompanying the card. All that carries a certain warmth and charm that cannot be conveyed electronically.
Furthermore, it seems that people of every age like greeting cards. Previous generations grew up with the idea that milestone events warranted cards that arrived in the mail. And have you ever seen a child turn away from a birthday card? Moreover, events like Valentine's Day and anniversaries just wouldn't be the same without some written expression of how much you love someone.Whether you buy a pre-made card or create one yourself with greeting card software, greeting cards are here to stay.
Just take a look at these facts:
- Christmas is the top holiday for sending cards in the United States, so even the most tech savvy among us are getting and sending them. The American Greeting Card Association expected that people in the U.S. would recieve1.5 billion holiday cards throughout the 2011 Christmas season.
- No matter what shape the economy isin, Mother's Day is another gigantic day for greeting cards. In fact, Mother's Day cards are the most common purchase made by American consumers for that particular holiday, according to the National Retail Federation.
- Even though electronic communications have cut deeply into the U.S. Postal Service, its website notes that the agency still handles an average 551 million pieces of mail every day, and that goes up to 589 millionpieces of mail during holidays.
- A 2010 study by Unity Marketing of Stevens, Pennsylvania, showed that more than 80 percent of young adults ages 25 to 34 purchased greeting cards the previous year. There was one distinction between this age group and others the young adults do notsend Christmas cards, which they regard as positively antediluvian. During the holidays, the younger group prefers various forms of social media to send good wishes.
Naturally, no one would argue that electronic communication is unnecessary or unimportant in today's busy world. However, there are times and events in everyone's life that call for a greater level of formality, and in many instances, physical greeting cards lend a certain gravitas that suits the occasion perfectly.
