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The Valentine card business is no small production. According to Hallmark, approximately 191 million cards are exchanged throughout the industry. Hallmark alone offers over 2,000 different Valentine card options. These options include cards that record messages, candy greeting cards, cards with lights and music and many other varieties.
Hallmark is not alone in the industry. According to the Sun Journal, there are over 3,000 publishers of greeting cards in the United States and approximately 100,000 retail outlets that sell greeting cards (2008). -
Valentine's Day greeting cards may serve an assortment of purposes. A card may be given simply to show thanks for a special person. Spouses exchange greeting cards to remind the other of their commitment and love. Children exchange greeting cards for fun and to display their friendship. Valentine's Day cards are often designed to reveal feelings of passion or intimacy.
Of the Valentine cards exchanged, approximately half are given to family members that are not a husband or wife, (Greeting Card Association). About 25% of the time these cards have humorous sayings. For example a funny Valentine e-card at Funny-ecards.com, portrays animated squirrels kissing under a greeting that reads "Wishing Ya' Today A Nutty Valentines Day." - To grasp the magnitude of greeting cards for Valentine's Day simply look at the numbers. According to the Greeting Card Association, Americans purchase 7 billion greeting cards per year with estimated retail sales of $7.5 billion. The purchase of Valentine's Day cards is second only to Christmas cards in quantity. Of the cards purchased, women purchase 80%. These figures make it easy to see just how popular Valentine's cards are for consumers.
- Advances in technology have also led to advances in greeting cards. People increasingly purchase E-Valentine cards, which they send by email. Cards can also be custom created with photographs and personalized text. Consumers can purchase their paper cards at on-line greeting card websites. According to Bizreport, the website American Greetings experienced 8.1 million unique visitors in the weeks leading up to Valentines Day. They were followed by Hallmark at 5.6 million.
- For some people, Valentine's Day is just another opportunity for greeting card businesses, such as Hallmark, to make money. This belief has called attention an increasingly popular movement known as Anti-Valentine's Day. Cards supporting anti-Valentines movements have now cropped up to support aversion to the holiday.
