“These latest financial results reflect a milestone year for the online greeting card specialist which also made its debut on the stock market in February 2021.
The pandemic has accelerated online shopping across most retail categories and this is also true for the greetings card market, with Moonpig emerging from the pandemic as a clear stand out performer. While other store-based players in the market such as Card Factory rely heavily on its extensive store portfolio to capture spend, Moonpig has worked on building its brand by focusing on investing in its website and app. In April 2021, the retailer revealed its new brand mascot in a widespread consumer advertising campaign to highlight its new brand platform and in May the retailer launched a new group card service which allows 20 people to sign a single card online. This has helped revenues more than double on the previous year, with Moonpig benefitting from the necessary shift to online caused by the pandemic.
Although we expect greetings cards shoppers to return to stores on the high street, online players such as Moonpig are set to lead the way in print-on-demand to offer highly customisable and personalised greetings cards, a trend the pandemic has helped boost. COVID-19 has highlighted the role of greetings cards and in the past year we have seen many rediscover greetings cards as a way to stay connected with family and friends. Indeed, Mintel’s Greetings Cards and Personal Stationery Retailing-UK, 2021 revealed that 47% of shoppers think the pandemic has made it more important to send greetings cards. Coupled with the rise in online shopping Moonpig has also tapped into shoppers' heightened sense of belonging and need for connection with the Report also showing that 72% of consumers do not need a specific reason to send greetings cards. For its brand in the Netherlands, Greetz, personal connections were at the centre of its campaign ‘For You’.
Since the easing of restrictions Moonpig has seen a ‘normalisation’ in purchasing from its customers and expects its revenue for 2022 to lie between £250-£260 million, a natural decrease in headline revenue. Despite this, Moonpig’s success illustrates how consumers have embraced online gifting during the pandemic- a habit that is expected to continue once the pandemic eases.”