Win Back Greeting Card Sales After COVID-19 Cut In-Store Purchases

Greeting card sales through physical retail stores have fallen since the COVID-19 pandemic began. What strategies would you use to grow card sales again? Explain how you would work out what is driving the decline, which buyers you would go after first, which strategies you would try and in what order, and how you would tell whether they are working. ```hint Separate the reason to send from the place to buy Ask whether people stopped wanting to send cards or only stopped making the trips where they used to pick one up. Each answer points to a different set of strategies. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Whose sales are we growing: a card publisher that sells through retailers, a store chain that stocks cards, or a commerce platform such as Shopify whose merchants include card makers and stationery shops? - How steep is the decline and where: one country or worldwide, all card types or mainly seasonal and event cards, and are online card sales falling as well? - Is the target revenue, number of cards sold, profit, or clearing stock that built up while stores were closed or quiet? - Which stores that sell cards are still open, such as pharmacies and grocery stores, and are shoppers using pickup and delivery from them? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A diagnosis that separates fewer store visits from weaker demand for sending cards, broken down by occasion, store type and buyer. - A segmentation of card buyers with a reasoned choice of whom to win back first. - Strategies tied to specific breaks in the card buyer's journey, prioritized by impact, effort and time to market. - A primary metric tied to the stated goal, with guardrails for profitability and for existing retail partners. - Risks, including whether the move away from store racks will outlast the pandemic. ### Follow-up Questions - Stores reopen, but in-store card sales stay below where they were before the pandemic. What would you change? - Would you launch digital cards, knowing they might replace some paper card sales? How would you decide? - A grocery delivery app offers to list your cards at its checkout in exchange for a large revenue share. How would you evaluate the offer?