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Summary of our market study
The French card market is estimated at between 365 and 370 million euros.
The market remains buoyant, driven by the emotional ties and personal attention associated with physical cards. The French card sector, historically robust, has undergone changes due to digitization and changing consumer behavior.
Despite digital alternatives, the market has proved resilient. In 2020, the market landscape is characterized by the significant presence of generalist retail chains such as Fnac Darty, with sales of 7.5 billion euros, and specialized players such as Groupe Editor and Draeger - La Carterie, with revenues of 52 million euros and 40 million euros respectively.
The personalized cards and photo albums segment is significant, with companies such as Planet Cards Groupe and Carteland achieving sales of 22 million euros and 4.2 million euros respectively.
The sector is highly seasonal, depending heavily on the influx of tourists and the festive season.
The trend towards personalization, environmental concerns and the development of innovative, diversified product offerings have played a key role in maintaining market momentum.
Dynamic trends in the French card market in the digital age
Attached to tradition, consumers continue to buy postcards and greeting cards.
The market is cyclical, with around 80% of postcard sales made during the summer months, mainly by tourists.
The market is also characterized by a high proportion of impulse purchases, contributing to the 145 million cards bought each year. Greeting cards alone generate around 246 million euros in sales. Fancy labels and other miscellaneous products make a negligible contribution in terms of value and volume.
Innovation seems to be the key to maintaining demand in a market faced with digital convenience. Companies like Editor renew part of their collections every year to keep up with trends, thus directly addressing the market's predominantly young, female audience.
Changing consumer habits reflect a broader trend in which digital technology both competes with and complements traditional cards. Services such as Fizzer capitalize on this trend, combining the physical and digital worlds to create a new postcard experience.
Market players
- Fnac Darty is a giant in cards and stationery, with a vast network of stores across France.
- The Editor Group is the embodiment of tradition and innovation. By acquiring small companies and reviving their charm, Editor has become a major player in the sector.
- Draeger - La Carterie offers a wide range of fancy cards, postcards and packaging
- Editions Cély another card publisher
- Planet Cards Groupe, a forerunner in the online market.
- Carteland a versatile player, combining the world of digital convenience with that of traditional paper products
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Presentation
The card industry has existed in France since at least the 18th century, initially in the form of postcards, then extended to greeting cards, reaching a golden age between 1900 and 1920.
The card market is traditionally based on a rigid paper-cardboard medium, but the advent of digital technology has also given rise to a digital card market. however, the advent of digital technology has also given rise toa digitalized card market , where it is now possible to send a "digital" greetings card or postcard by e-mail or html link. Paradoxically, these new digital media have increased French interest in traditional postcards. Indeed, in 2021, 97% of French people said they would be more moved to receive a physical postcard than a digital one.
The French stationery market covers the production and distribution of products in one of three categories:
- Postcards: "simple" cards illustrated with an emblematic photograph, and primarily intended for mailing;
- Greeting cards (also known as "double cards"): themed cards, bought and sent to mark a specific event (birthday, wedding, birth, new year, etc.).) ;
- Gift wrapping: gift bags, tissue paper, bolduc, gift bags, gift paper, etc.
Beyond these categories, the market also includes fancy labels, albums, etc., which nevertheless represent a negligible share in both volume and value.
The Postcard market has suffered a sharp devaluation in 2020 and 2021, since it is heavily dependent on the tourism market, which was frozen for two years due to the health crisis. By 2022, the tourism market has returned to pre-crisis levels, boosting the postcard and cardboard market at the same time.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
2 Demand analysis
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
3 Market structure
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
4 Offer analysis
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
5 Regulations
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 ...
6 Positioning the players
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
List of charts presented in this market study
- Stationery market size
- Postcard buyers by gender
- Age distribution of postcard buyers
- Breakdown of postcard buyers by status
- Stamp price trends
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Latest news
Retail Media: Fnac Darty points of sale also become media outlets - 31/05/2024
- - Retail media sales in 2023 in France: Over 1 billion euros.
- - Retailink (Fnac Darty's advertising network) sales in 2023: 90 million euros.
- - Total sales for Fnac Darty in 2023: 7.88 billion euros.
- - Number of unique visitors per month to the Fnac Darty website: 16.3 million.
- - Number of unique visitors who may be exposed to Fnac Darty advertising outside the site: 12 million.
- - Number of screens in Fnac stores: 1,500 in 450 stores.
- - Total number of stores in the Fnac network: 987.
- - Percentage of screens in Fnac stores equipped with trackers to measure advertising audience: 25%.
- - Amazon: 38.5 million unique visitors per month.
- - Cdiscount: 23.8 million unique visitors per month.
- - Fnac Darty: Over 16 million unique visitors per month.
- - E. Leclerc: 15.7 million unique visitors per month.
- - Carrefour: 14.5 million unique visitors per month.
FNAC Darty increasingly driven by services - 23/02/2024
- - FNAC Darty sales in 2023: 7.9 billion euros, down 0.9
- - Services account for 15% of group sales
- - Darty Max subscription reaches 1.1 million subscribers, an increase of 300,000 subscribers over one year
- - Target of 2 million subscribers for Darty Max by 2025
- - Group repaired 2.5 million products in 2023
- - Joint venture with Ceva, "Weavenn", aims to generate 200 million euros in sales and a double-digit operating margin within 5 years
Another international buyout for Antalis - 06/02/2024
- - Antalis recently completed two acquisitions, including Pakella and Tecnoprimaf.
- - Tecnoprimaf is an Italian company specializing in wooden transport packaging.
- - The company is based in Castelfranco Emilia, near Modena, and has 80 employees.
- - Tecnoprimaf's sales are expected to reach 26 million euros in 2023.
- - Tecnoprimaf has five production sites.
- - Tecnoprimaf's main markets are production equipment and ceramics.
- - With this acquisition, Antalis is now the leader in custom packaging solutions in Italy.
Papierfleur, ecological and poetic stationery | Papierfleur : ecological and poetic stationery - 12/10/2023
- Franck Bansart founded his own agency, Papierfleur, in 2009.
- Papierfleur has developed nearly 300 products since its creation.
- Papierfleur manufactures several types of paper, some containing wildflower seeds or aromatic plants.
- In 2018, the company created its own industrial process to print on this unique paper.
- Papierfleur has also created many other products, such as cards, notebooks, posters, calendars, gift wrap and gift wrapping.
- In France, only 60% of gift paper is recycled.
- Papierfleur paper is entirely biodegradable and zero waste.
- B2B accounts for 90% of the company's business.
- Papierfleur is 100% made in Paris.
Antalis always greener | Greener with Antalis - 11/10/2023
- Antalis belongs to the Japanese group Kokusai Pulp & Paper (KPP). KPP is a leading distributor of paper, packaging and communication products.
- The group is present in 29 countries.
- It generates sales of 563 billion yen, or around 3.578 billion euros.
- Antalis is the leading BtoB distributor of paper and industrial packaging.
- Antalis is also number two in the distribution of visual communication media.
- Antalis employs 3,800 people.
Fnac Darty completes acquisition of MediaMarkt in Portugal - 08/10/2023
- Fnac Darty has announced its intention to acquire Media Markt in Portugal
- Media Markt has 10 stores in Portugal.
- The company has 450 employees.
- Media Markt's sales in its 2021-2022 financial year were around €140 million.
- The acquisition consolidates Fnac Darty's position as number two in the Portuguese market.
- Media Markt's activities in Portugal will be 100% consolidated in Fnac Darty's accounts from October 1, 2023.
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