The cardboard market - France (2024)

1.2 The global market

The global market for postal stationery and greeting cards is poorly documented, but there are many figures covering this market, including figures for the global stationery and greeting card market. The world's major players in the cardboard market are also major players in the stationery market. As a result, the sales figures considered for the stationery and giftware market are much higher than those for the giftware market alone. Sales in the stationery and giftware market are estimated at *** billion USD in ****. Between **** and ****, this market is expected to grow by an average of *.**% per year, for estimated sales of *** billion USD in ****. [***]

Sales in **** and estimated sales for the period ****-****, assuming growth of *.**% per year. Global (***), bn$, **** [***]

worldwide, the main producers of postcards and greeting cards are the Americans Amazon, Costco Wholesale Corp and Shutterfly Inc, who offer ranges of postcards and personalized greeting cards. Japanese photo specialist Canon also offers standard and personalized card ranges. Among the global giants are the Pure Players of the card market, America's Hallmark Licensing LLC and England's Card Factory Plc.

The majority of these companies are North American or operate in this part of the world, so it's not surprising that **% of ...

1.3 The French market

Despite a certain decline in sales over the **** decade, the French card market is trying to resist the alternative practices of e-carte or SMS, and the emergence of new players in online commerce.

According to the Union Professionnelle de la Carte Postale (***).

In ****, sales in the cardboard market are shared between the * product categories as follows:

*** million euros generated by greeting cards in ****, *** million euros in ****, down *.*%; ** million euros from tourist postcards in ****, ** million euros in ****, down *.*%; ** million euros for gift wrapping in ****, as in ****.

Annual revenues by product category France, ****, millions of euros Source: ****

In terms of volume, around ** million tourist postcards and ** million greeting cards were purchased during ****, for an annual total close to *** million cards.

Sales index trend "Other publishing activities **.** France, ****-****, in index (***) Source: ****

The index, based on a value of *** in ****, recorded an increase in ****, testifying to a relative expansion of sales in this sector. However, a slight decline is observed in ****, although the index remains higher than in the reference year. This development suggests a certain stability in the "Other publishing activities" sector, with moderate annual variations that may be influenced by factors such as consumer trends, technological innovations and general economic conditions. It ...

1.4 Foreign trade

Balance of trade for the cardboard market France, ****-****, in millions of euros and as a % of sales Source: Customs and excise An analysis of the trade balance for the French stationery market from **** to **** reveals significant changes in imports and exports, as well as in the coverage rate. In ****, imports far outstrip exports, resulting in a coverage rate of **.*% and hence a trade balance deficit. However, this trend is rapidly reversed in ****, with a significant increase in exports exceeding imports, reflected in a coverage rate of ***.*%. This dynamic is also maintained in the period from March **** to February ****, with a coverage rate of ***.*%. These figures show a clear improvement in the balance of trade of the cartery market, from a deficit to a surplus, which can be interpreted as a sign of the increased competitiveness of French companies in this sector. This positive development offers encouraging prospects for the French cardboard industry, underlining its ability to compete on the world market and strengthen its position internationally.

Main customer countries France, ****, in millions of euros Source: ****

An analysis of the main customer countries for cartery products in France in **** reveals a significant distribution of exports to several key destinations. Japan emerges ...

2.1 French people's perceptions of greeting cards and postcards

The greetings card market benefits from well-established consumer habits. According to surveys carried out by the Union des Professionnelles de la Carte Postale and released in ****, **% of French people buy cards for special occasions: birthdays, year-end greetings, weddings, births, vacations.

To analyze French demand for postcards and greeting cards, it's interesting to understand how consumers perceive greeting cards and postcards.

Perception of greeting cards France, ****, % (***) Source: ****

A significant proportion (***) of respondents express the view that the tradition of greeting cards is being lost, underlining a potential decline in this practice in today's society.

However, a significant proportion of respondents(***) consider that personal words written on cards are more touching than material gifts, reflecting the emotional value associated with greeting cards.

What's more, a considerable proportion enjoy receiving greeting cards (***), highlighting the sentimental significance attached to these gestures.

The French relationship with postcards France, ****, % (***) Source: ****

A strong majority of respondents (***) value the personalized nature of postcards, highlighting the importance of unique messages and images in these exchanges.

A considerable number of respondents also feel that some of their own photos might make better cards than those sold, suggesting a preference for authenticity and individuality in the choice of postcards.

Furthermore, a majority ...

2.2 Buyer profile

Breakdown of postcard buyers by gender France, ****, %, % Source: ****

The graph above highlights a very slight difference between buyers according to gender. In fact, both groups show a relatively high level of commitment to sending postcards, with **% of men and **% of women respectively, so there's a slight predominance of women.

This difference may be due to a number of social and cultural factors, such as traditional gender norms that often value emotional expressions and affectionate gestures, to which sending postcards may correspond. In addition, women may be more inclined to maintain social and family relationships at a distance by using means of communication such as postcards. However, it should be noted that the differences are relatively small, suggesting that sending postcards remains a widespread practice appreciated by both genders in France.

Age distribution of postcard buyers France, ****, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, % Source : Opinionway Young adults aged ** to ** stand out as the group most committed to sending postcards, with a high percentage of **%. This trend can be explained by this group's greater propensity to adopt traditional communication practices and express their creativity and individuality through gestures such as sending postcards. People aged ** and over also show a high percentage, at **%, suggesting a return to appreciation of traditional ...

2.3 Cyclical demand

Demand in the giftware market is overwhelmingly domestic.businesses are customers of the sector only on rare occasions, for end-of-year celebrations or when their employees retire.according to the Union Professionnelle de la Carte Postale (***), family customers represent the main outlet for card sales.Private individuals are the main players in the demand for cards, and this demand is particularly cyclical.

Evolution of interest in the search "Greeting card" on google France, ****-****, in number of searches Source: ****

Interest in greeting cards rises sharply in late December/early January, with several notable peaks. Demand is traditionally higher for the festive season.

Trends in interest for the search "Postcard" on google France, ****-****, in number of searches Source: ****

Demand for tourist cards and postcards is also cyclical, with strong seasonal effects. according to industry experts, **% of postcard sales take place during the summer months, when tourism is at its peak: June, July, August and September. tourist cards are also one of the drivers of the greetings card market[***].

The same observation can be made when observing Google searches in France for the term "Carte Postale", which is also highly seasonal during the summer months.

Analysis of the evolution of interest for the ...

2.4 The influence of domestic tourism

The postcard or vacation card market is heavily dependent on the tourism sector in France, and in particular on the domestic tourism sector. Domestic tourism in France corresponds to the activities of French tourists within the country. Tourists are the main buyers of postcards, making them the core target of this market.

Over thepast forty years, the number of French people going on vacation has remained stable, with between **% and **% of French people going on vacation. This figure needs to be put into context, however, as any leisure stay of at least * days away from home is considered a vacation. This may involve a few days with family or friends a few kilometers from home, and does not include more traditional vacations by the sea or in the mountains.

Proportion of French people going on holiday France, ****-****, % Center d'Observation de la Société

We observe strong vacation habits among French tourists, with a peak in ****, when **% of French people said they had gone on vacation (***). This figure falls in **** and ****, following the covid-** health crisis and confinements. Figures for **** for the proportion of French people going on vacation are not yet available, but tourism experts report that **** was a record ...

2.5 The cardboard market is closely linked to the dynamism of international tourism in France

The French greetings card market also largely concerns foreign tourists, who send and bring back postcards from their travels.

Consumption habits differ widely between countries. While the French consume an average of * postcards a year, the Belgians claim to send ** and the British an average of **. It is therefore essential for players in the postal stationery market to capture these foreign consumers who are highly likely, thanks to their consumption habits, to buy postcards on French territory[***]

Industry experts need to take an interest in the nationality of tourists visiting France, as this can be an indicator of the changes needed in the postcard market to capture new customers.

Main countries of origin for tourists visiting French hotels France, ****, in millions of overnight stays Source: ****

The United Kingdomand the United States stand out as the main foreign guests in French hotels, with millions of overnight stays close to each other: *.* and *.* million overnight stays . Germany and Belgium follow, reflecting strong affluence from neighboring countries. European countries such asSpain, Italy and Switzerland also represent important sources of tourism for France over the summer period. This data highlights the importance of traditional European markets for French tourism, while also underlining the potential for ...

3.1 Production

The card industry is based on the printing of postcards and greeting cards, as well as gift wrapping.

The production process in the card industry consists essentially of the following stages:

Card or wrapping paper design development; Sampling ; Production (***); Delivery to selected distribution points.

Postcards and greeting cards can also be designed by the card-maker himself, who develops his own model according to :

A specific layout ; A specific typeface, including letters, colors and embossing; Any photographic additions, which may be subject to copyright regulations.

The target age group must also be well established beforehand, in order to select the appropriate trends to adapt to, and to make the right choice of product range.

The printing of gift cards and wrapping paper remains the heaviest production process for the card manufacturer. In fact, it requires appropriate production capacities (***) and the ability to adapt to periods of temporarily increased demand.it also requires the ability to adapt to periods of temporary increases in demand in highly cyclical markets, such as the summer period for postcards and the holiday season.

The production of cards and wrapping paper is largely carried out in the destination territory of the finished product, due to low sales prices ...

3.2 Number of companies and number of employees

As explained above, it is interesting to analyze the data for the APE code****Z - Other publishing activitiesas it covers, among other things, the publishing of postcards, greeting cards and other printed materials.**.**.** - Postcards, greeting cards and the like, printed,exists, no data are available on the number of establishments or on changes in the number of employees.

Change in the number of establishments registered under activity ****Z "Other publishing activities" France, ****-****, in number of establishments Source: ****

The trend in the number of establishments registered under activity ****Z "Other publishing activities" has been upward over the last few years. from *** establishments in **** to *** establishments in ****, an increase of **.**%.

This steady increase suggests dynamism in the publishing activities sector in general, which could also have a positive impact on the cardboard market.

This growth in the number of establishments could be attributed to a number of factors, such as the emergence of new companies in the cardmaking sector, as well as the development of micro and independent businesses. In addition, changing consumer patterns and growing interest in handmade and personalized products could also contribute to this trend.

Change in the number of employees registered in activity ****Z "Other publishing ...

3.3 A market facing competition from digital services

A major strategic challenge for the cardboard industry is to adapt its offer to the changes brought about by the development of digital services.

It would seem,as Henry Condamine henry Condamine, CEO of the Editor group, that " dematerialized exchanges have not significantly impacted sales of traditional cards, but rather represent a potential complementary market ", a statement corroborated bySébastien Lapaquea novelist and author of La théorie de la carte postale, who studied the subject as part of the preparation of his book. The reality is, however, that the postcard market has declined since the advent of digital exchanges, and hasstruggled to find a sustained rate of growth ever since.

Postcards and greeting cards are being challenged by a number of increasingly popular media, including :

E-mail, where vacation photos can be exchanged, as well as greeting letters attached as attachments or html links; Social networks such asFacebook; Photo-sharing social networks such asInstagramorSnapchat; And last but not least, text messaging (***), which also enables photos and greetings to be sent by cell phone. For example, *** million SMS messageswere exchanged on December *, ****, twice as many as on other days of the year. [***];

What all these new digital services have in common is that, ...

3.4 Competition from traditional distributors

In the traditional stationery market, increased competition is emerging from more traditional players, due to changing consumer habits. Retailers such as Fnac offer free gift-wrapping during the end-of-year period, which represents a loss of earnings for players in the gift-wrapping market. The occasions when it is necessary to purchase one's own gift wrapping have become very rare.

The massification of online commerce is also a factor reducing the need not only for gift wrapping, but also for cards.Indeed, the major online sales platforms now offer not only specific packaging for gift-giving occasions (***), but also offer to include, again free of charge, a specific message on the card and inserted in the package for a particular person.

Finally, some of these distributors, who may also be distributors of greeting cards or postcards, offer their customers printing and personalization services for these cards, in competition with some of the producers they distribute, such as Fnac or Darty. Users can take a memory card to a kiosk, where they can personalize and print their postcards or greeting cards in just a few minutes.

3.5 Distribution

Postcards and greeting cards are sold throughout France in a wide variety of physical distribution networks, including :- Specialized channels (***)

Breakdown of sales of postcards and similar paper products France, ****, Channels of distribution, % (***) Source: ****

Generalists

Due to the price positioning and clientele of "generalist" distribution networks, higher-end cards are generally not available from these chains, which offer a more standardized range.they offer a more standardized range, which may include "fancy" or "picture" cards, both local and national.

for example, brands such as Monoprix, E. Leclerc and Carrefour offer greetings cards in their supermarkets and hypermarkets, both in major cities and in shopping areas. On the other hand, the convenience stores of these distribution networks, such as Carrefour City, do not offer cards on their shelves.

Convenience stores

The downward trend in local outlets such as tobacconists and newsagents is worth watching, as it is likely to lead to lower sales in the card market too. A key player in postcard sales, newsagents have seen their numbers fall below the **, *** mark by **** [***].as far as local bookshops are concerned, their difficulty in staying in business represents a major loss for the stationery market, as these are the outlets whose card offer ...

4.1 Product overview

Tourist postcards

Postcards depicting a local landscape or a French village have traditionally been a great success, serving as an "ethnographic" testimonial replacing photography for unique aerial shots that were difficult for tourists to access. Today, however, this market is in serious decline, as village postcards have often not been reissued for over ten years due to lack of demand.

In this world of postcards, only three major subjects remain irremovable: monumental buildings, nature and people, along with folk images[***].

Example of a postcard "shot" of the village of Authon-du-Perche

Fantasy" postcards

Fancy" postcards remain a sure bet on the French card market, according to Thierry Robin, head of MG Editions. Sales volumes are offsetting the decline in picture postcards, and stabilizing the market's aggregate sales volume.

Example of a "fancy" postcard

Greeting cards:

These cards are sent on special occasions, such as births, weddings, anniversaries and New Years. This is the most seasonal segment of the greetings card market , with sales concentrated at the end of the year (***).

Greeting cards have seen a certain amount of product innovation over the past few years, with the appearance of greeting cards that produce sounds when opened, or others with electrical connections and ...

4.2 Card prices

Source: ****

The table showing average prices for card products, such as postcards, greeting cards and gift wrapping, provides an overview of the general costs associated with these items. However, it should be noted that these prices can vary considerably depending on a number of factors.

First of all, the price of a postcard or greeting card may depend on the object depicted on the front of the card, with more complex and detailed illustrations or photos potentially resulting in a higher cost. In addition, the quality of the paper used can also influence the price, with higher quality materials often entailing additional costs.

Similarly, where the card is purchased can play a role, with specialist stores or tourist locations able to charge higher prices than mainstream stores. Finally, elements such as personalized printing or special features, such as sound or light greeting cards, can also add to the final cost of the item.

In summary, although the table offers a general indication of average prices, it is important to consider these different criteria, which can influence the variation in prices of card products.

stamp price trends :

Most postcards are bought with the intention of sending them to other people, friends and ...

4.3 Adaptation through innovation and diversification

Faced with the changes taking place in the cardboard and related markets, particularly with the emergence of digital technology (***), a major strategic challenge for manufacturers in the sector is to adapt to these changes, through innovation and diversification.

This means revitalizing old "traditional" card offers. It is also necessary to bring out new products on a regular basis, as the Editor company does by renewing ** of its *** collections per year, so as to be able to offer consumers collections that are in line with current trends[***]. It is also possible to make the strategic choice of diversifying by offering not only card personalization, but also personalization of objects, as a way of diversifying one's activities. This is what the Carteland site, a specialist in personalized cards, has decided to do, diversifying with other products.

Last but not least, authenticity and added value remain the credo of some irresistible players on the card market, who rely on the quality of their photography and materials, the experience of their staff and the quality of their products.rial, the experience of their photographers and the uniqueness of their knowledge of the landscapes photographed to offer a more upscale experience to postcard buyers.

All in ...

4.4 The importance of sustainable development

The stationery sector relies on paper conversion (***), and must therefore adapt its offering and communications to the new imperatives of sustainable development. By way of example, here are some of the initiatives undertaken by the two French market leaders:

Editor :

Forest Stewardship Council (***) certification; **% of the cost price of Editor products purchased in France, benefiting from the Origine France Garantie label issued by the Pro France association; Unicef's production and art direction taken over since ****, to enable the United Nations Children's Fund to reinvigorate sales of its cards.

La Carterie:

Forest Stewardship Council (***) certification; Selective sorting, choice of environmentally-friendly consumables (***); AB seeds in cards, renewable materials (***), recycled paper, eco-friendly inks, etc.

In addition, an emerging trend highlights the importance of sustainable development, with the availability of so-called "ecological and eco-responsible" greeting cards and postcards made from recycled paper.

5.1 Current regulations

Thereis no specific legislation or regulation governing the card market in France.However, card companies must comply with national legislation on intellectual property for reproduced works, particularly for postcards reproducing monuments of the State's intangible heritage . [***].

In France and the European Union, postcards and greeting cards are subject to copyright when they are not originalworks.Whether it's the images represented, the photographs or the fonts used, all these elements may be subject to copyright. Each element reproduced on a postcard, greeting card or gift wrapping is subject to copyright and reproduction rights. Postcards are not marketed within the framework of private property, so the card market is highly subject to copyright issues, and publishing houses' postcard collections must respect and pay for reproduction rights by making arrangements with the artists concerned on a case-by-case basis.

A photograph of a work of art (***) can be considered a work in its own right, since the choice of framing, lighting and angle of view is left to the free consideration of the artist photographer.

A silkscreen print or an identical reproduction of a work (***) is subject to strict copyright protection. Source: ****

Companies in the cardboard production market are signatories to environmental protection programs, and ...

6.1 Segmentation

• Planet Cards Groupe
• Cély Editions
• Draeger – La Carterie
• Editor Groupe
• Carteland
• Vistaprint (Cimpress Group)
• Fnac Darty
• Quo Vadis Agendas
• Antalis France
• Maison de la Presse Sediff (Nap groupe)
• PapierFleur
• Moleskine
• Declicmedia Popcarte
• Rosemood
• Tageos
• Alizé Group