The online greeting card retailer Moonpig has reported that its sales have earned over £100m in the year 2019 as it responded to growing demand from consumers for personalised greetings cards that could be sent directly to the individual. The company, whose cards cater for a variety of occasions including Birthdays, Anniversaries, Graduations and more, released their end of year report that stated sales had increased by 82% in the year leading up to June 2019 as more customers began to use the service. Moonpig not only offers greetings cards but gifts and flowers that can be sent alongside the cards to the chosen recipient.
Representatives of the company noted in a statement that they were thrilled with sales figures but stated that there was always room for growth within the industry. Kate Swann, who was elected as the company’s CEO in 2011 and was previously one of the top executives at stationary firm WHSmith, said that 90% of greetings cards are still sold offline so there was plenty of room for development and growth over the coming year. The report also suggested that more consumers were using their phones and the dedicated Moonpig app to order cards for their loved ones, over the traditional website. The company also attribute their success to increased expansion and development, which include branded deals with conglomerates like Disney, the introduction of giant cards and even a reminder service which informs customers of when occasions for cards are coming up.
These new figures suggest that an increasing chunk of the market is turning online for their greetings card needs and could push others to follow suit. The closure of dedicated card shops on the UK high street has already shown that smaller brick and mortar shops are struggling to compete against major supermarkets and digital-only companies.
Moonpig’s central USP was that customers could order the cards online, personalize them with text, photographs and images owned by the company, then have them sent directly out without ever having to leave your sofa. The company was founded in 2000 by Nick Jenkins, who appears as a ‘Dragon’ on the British entrepreneurial show Dragon’s Den, before selling in 2011 to the Photobox Group, before separating earlier this year to become an autonomous business. Based in the United Kingdom, the company have also expanded to selling in both Australia and the United States.