Category: Business Greeting Cards Reviews

Millennials and Greeting Cards on the Rise

Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years.

Millennials are choosing to buy more paper greeting cards over social media and texts. They have learned to appreciate a more personal connection and creative side. Greeting cards today offer digital wizardry if you can’t draw a stick figure and give you the opportunity to choose from pre-made templates and add digital photos.

It’s an old fashioned callback to a more intimate experience. Standing in the drugstore and choosing that particular wording that expresses how you feel. Pops of color and even pop-ups jump from the card to give you a big hug. It’s a keepsake, but it’s also an expression of whatever sentiment you’re trying to convey.

Are you in the Market for Greeting Cards?

How do you shop for greeting cards?  When I was in the market for our yearly supply of birthday cards, I wasn’t exactly sure where to start.  My predecessor would make trips to the local discount store to purchase greeting cards.  No offense to her as she was doing the best she could, but the cards were always so flimsy and looked cheap.  This was not how I thought our business should be represented.

The first thing I did was hit the internet.  I went to multiple sites and requested catalogs.  This was a great way to start.  Most companies not only sent me a catalog but a sample of their greeting cards and sometimes even their envelopes.  It was really helpful as I was able to compare the quality of greeting cards from each company.

Once I narrowed down my choice to The Gallery Collection, I hopped on their website to see their full line of greeting cards.  It was so difficult to select one from all the beautiful designs.  They were nice enough to send me samples of my 6 favorite.  I then passed them along to my colleagues in the Human Resources Department for a vote.  We have the perfect birthday cards that I am proud to send to our customers and staff.

Keeping Greeting Card Assortment Boxes on Hand

How many times has an occasion popped up unexpectedly and you didn’t have a greeting card on hand? Running to the store isn’t always an option. We are always busy and just don’t have the time to stop everything. It makes perfect sense to keep an assortment of greeting cards on hand for different occasions. The Gallery Collection has many different assortment boxes available.

While there is always the option of buying one card design, sometimes you just don’t want to give out the same card to everyone. An all occasion assortment box will give you an array of cards to choose from. Birthday Cards, Anniversary Cards, Get Well Cards, Sympathy Cards and Congratulation cards can be at your fingertips. Ready to send out at a moment’s notice.

You can purchase beautiful, high quality cards at a fraction of the cost that you would pay at a department or stationary store.

If you mainly send out birthday cards, there is a birthday card assortment only. There are three options to pick from. For other occasions, there are other card assortments available like sympathy assortment boxes, thank you assortment boxes, get well assortment boxes, or anniversary assortment boxes. This is just to name a few. If you like to write your own message, there is a Fine Art collection that are blank inside.

With all the options available, you will be ready to send out your well wishes whenever the occasion pops up!

Facts about greeting cards…

  • Annual retail sales of greeting cards are estimated between $7 and $8 billion. Americans purchase approximately 6.5 billion greeting cards each year.
  • The most popular Seasonal Cards are Christmas Cards, with some 1.6 billion units purchased (included boxed cards). This is followed by cards for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduation, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and St. Patrick’s Day.
  • Seven out of Ten card buyers surveyed consider greeting cards “absolutely” or “almost essential to them. Eight out of Ten of these buyers expect their purchases to remain the same going forward. Of the balance, twice as many card buyers say they will “increase” their purchasing as say they will “decrease” their purchasing in the coming year.
  • Women purchase an estimated 80% of all greeting cards. Women spend more time choosing a card than men, and are more likely to buy several cards at once.
  • Younger card buyers and those who are more technology savvy are currently the ones most engaged in buying paper greeting cards online.
  • Most people now acknowledge many more birthdays than ever before because of Facebook, but they aren’t necessarily sending fewer cards as a result.
  • The tradition of giving greeting cards as a meaningful expression of personal affection for another person is still being deeply ingrained in today’s youth, and this tradition will likely continue as they become adults and become responsible for managing their own important relationships.

Tips On Choosing The Right Greeting

Although there are dozens of ways to say the same thing, not all greetings are created equal. Here are some tips on choosing the right greeting for any occasion.

Keep your audience in mind. If your business plans on sending out holiday cards, consider choosing a secular card and greeting. Keep in mind that not all of your employees may celebrate Christmas. It is best to take a “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings” approach, so all employees feel represented and included. Religious greetings, such as greetings with scriptures or references to God, should typically be limited to personal use or religious groups, like a church organization.    

Thank your employees. Another popular choice for business greetings is to take the time to acknowledge all of the hard work that your employees have done for the company. These greetings can be used for multiple occasions, including birthday, holiday, and anniversary cards. Of course, thank you cards are the perfect opportunity to show your employees that you appreciate their efforts!

Be inclusive. Greetings that include the phrasing “from all of us” give your cards a feeling of inclusion. These types of greetings are good to use if you are planning on sending a card from a group, like the management of a business, or from an entire family.

Add a graphic. If you want your card to have a cute, light-hearted feel, you can choose a greeting that also includes a graphic. A happy birthday card with a cartoon cake or a Christmas card with a happy snowman make for fun greetings. Decorative lines underneath a greeting can give your card a chic and sophisticated appearance. Along with the graphic, you can also play around with the font styles. Script fonts are typically more formal, while printed fonts are generally more informal and playful.

Although your greeting is important, don’t stress over the abundance of options! If you’re spending time agonizing over whether to wish someone “joy and happiness” vs. “good health and success” for their birthday, just remember that whoever receives your card will appreciate the gesture, no matter what wording you’ve chosen. And if you can’t decide on a greeting that encompasses everything that you’re looking for, you can always create your own! 

Assortment Boxes: An Office Staple!

If you work in a busy office setting, you absolutely need to purchase The Gallery Collection’s Greeting Card Assortment Boxes. It is imperative to have at least one of these premium quality card assortments on hand!

While it is amazing that The Gallery Collection offers so many opportunities for customization, it is nice that these Greeting Card Assortment Boxes cannot be altered. This cuts out just one more decision you would have to make, and is somewhat unnecessary for inter-office distribution—like birthday cards or anniversary cards. There are plenty of different boxes to choose from, all containing 35 cards and 38 seal-fast envelopes. These greeting cards range in cover design, greeting inside, and printing color. All exact contents can be viewed online.

Each Assortment Box is delivered in its own labeled, sturdy box as to keep your cards looking neat and untouched. This is also particularly helpful in terms of organization. Never dig around the office to scrounge up a good enough card. Never dash to the store and hope for the best. Get yourself an Assortment Box from The Gallery Collection.

Many offices choose to have multiple types of Assortment Boxes on hand, as they are a huge time-saver without sparing at all on the quality. Never let a birthday sneak up on you or a job well done go unthanked again. Earn the respect of coworkers with the timelessly thoughtful gesture of a prompt greeting card.

Why are Greeting Card Assortments a Great Gift?

Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, or any special occasion; we find ourselves stressing on what the perfect gift would be. A greeting card assortment box is the answer to alleviate all your worries. Personally, I love to gift things that the person can either use, it’s in the person’s needs, or comes in handy. When my son graduated Kindergarten, I couldn’t think of a gift to give to his teachers other than your boring set of flowers. I decided to gift each of them a greeting card assortment box.

In the following school year, I was able to chat with my son’s kindergarten teacher and was truly pleased to find out how happy she was with her gift. It’s a gift that is not normally thought of, but it comes in handy in that last minute when you’re running out of the door to a celebration and forgot to buy a card. It comes in handy when you want to send a card to a relative or friend that may live far just to wish them well or even to send them sympathy if a tragic event ever occurred. Overall, the greeting card assortment box is a shoe win as a gift to anyone of any age and for any occasion.

Why You Should Send Personal Photo Cards

Before I started a family, I admit that I rarely sent out Christmas cards. I loved receiving them though.  Once I was married and my two children were born, I could not wait to start choosing a holiday card to send out. Personal photo cards became my cards of choice. I think there are many reasons why personalized photo cards are a wonderful idea.

My husband and I both come from large families with many relatives living out of state.  Because of the distance between us, we don’t get a chance to get together often. We don’t get the chance to see each others’ children grow up and they grow up too quickly. We wind up missing so many milestones.  Sending and receiving personal photo cards lets us see our families and friend’s families’ growing up. It really helps to keep us all in touch with each other and make us feel like we are right there with them.  I hang the photo cards that we receive up on a door so I can see them all year long.

Besides adding pictures to personalized photo cards, you can also customize the wording as well. While most of our relatives celebrate Christmas, we have some that celebrate Hanukkah. I like to be able to make sure that I send holiday wishes for any holiday that they may celebrate. This helps to ensure that no one is offended. I often prefer to customize my photo cards by wishing everyone a Happy Everything.

One of the things I look forward to the most regarding the holiday season is receiving personal photo cards. Knowing that we are in each other’s thoughts makes the holiday feel really special. I have already chosen the design that I will be sending out to those I love and I can’t wait to see who is thinking of us too.  I really recommend sending out personalized photo cards. This is the time of year that we all want to feel close to loved ones. This holiday I recommend sending out your personal holiday card and let your loved ones know that you are thinking of them.

Design 644AR – Congratulations Banner Greeting Card

I remember years ago when I worked as an employee for a sporting goods chain. One of the nice things working for the folks who ran that company was their acknowledging of both my birthday and company anniversary with the presentation of very nice congratulations cards. Now that I am a member of a corporate executive team, I make absolutely sure that my employees always receive business congratulations cards to commemorate special occasions in their lives.

The one I picked out for this year is Design 644AR – Congratulations Banner Greeting Card. This is a fun and colorful design that says exactly what I want to say in a most cheerful and happy way. The design depicts a banner across the top of the card that reads, ”Congratulations from all of us!”, with the lettering in all different colors ranging from blue and green to red and gold.

Design 644AR - Congratulations Banner Greeting Card
Design 644AR - Congratulations Banner
Greeting Card

Below are four people – two men and two women (the same makeup as our executive group) – with big smiles on their faces, holding multi-colored balloons and standing in a large, opened gift box. Multi-colored streamers and confetti lend an accent as a final touch.

I have yet to see a more joyful and pleasing business congratulations card to give to a valued employee! Design 644AR – Congratulations Banner Greeting Card really fits the bill!

Design 592AR – Precious Footprints New Baby Card

Searching for new baby cards to send to a neighbor’s daughter, I came upon Design 592AR – Precious Footprints New Baby Card, which made my heart stop. You see, the front of this card shows two little, gold-embossed footprints…so cute and tiny! What caused my reaction was that this past weekend I started to do some spring cleaning and I came upon a box with an album that I hadn’t seen in years; it was filled with new baby cards my wife and I had received when our youngest daughter was born more than 26 years ago. And, along with all the cards was this little piece of paper the hospital gave us shortly after she was born, showing her diminutive, petite feet – almost a replica of what the front of that baby card shows. Amazing!

Design 592AR - Precious Footprints New Baby Card
Design 592AR - Precious Footprints
New Baby Card

The beautiful style of Design 592AR – Precious Footprints New Baby Card, features a shiny white card stock with the words “Congratulations! On Your New Arrival” in gold foil below a pink, blue, and beige gift box. The footprints are in the center of the gift box and a foil ribbon completes the package. I knew the instant I saw this card that it would be perfect!