SMS and e-mails affect paper Eid cards business
ISLAMABAD (October 08 2007): Easy access to technological advancements and better communication facilities have affected the Eid cards’ business, as there has been a little public interest in buying the cards so far.
The concept of designing Eid cards on computers and sending them via e-mail has hurt the business of traditional paper Eid cards and reduced their sale by 50 percent, retailers claimed.
The advent of the Internet has added another cultural dimension in our society, cyber greeting through the Internet and cell phones. There are so many sites on the World Wide Web offering free cyber greetings for all occasions including Eid from where users can select, customise and send cards with a few clicks.
Availability of cards at the Internet and SMS and MMS through cell phones at fairly cheap rates is quoted to be the main reasons for decline in Eid cards sale.
Some customers quoted higher prices of cards as a reason for dwindling interest in their purchase. A fine-quality card costs between Rs 30 and Rs 60 and some are even more costly.
There is hassle of posting the cards, they argued, insisting that they do not see any reason to spend Rs 50 to Rs. 100 for a few cards as they could pick a card with musical tunes or even one having a background song, while receiving card through e-mail.
The wholesalers sell Eid cards at 100 percent profits to retailers, who in turn sell the same to people at profits ranging from 100 percent to 400 percent.
On average, wholesalers earn Rs 8,000 to Rs 16,000 every day during the initial fifteen days of Ramazan when the sale of cards is at a peak but now this time 50 percent reduction is observed due to cell phone technology.
Wholesalers said that cards with greetings to teachers are popular among students, but now SMS, e-mails and online greeting cards have overcome the paper cards. The messages printed on the greeting cards are poetic, passionate, persuasive and very comforting.
The cards available in the market meet the requirements of all the conceivable situations in the human relationship. There are endless varieties, designs, shapes and sizes from simple messages.
Still with the advent of technology, paper cards have its own importance and many people like to greet through paper cards particularly in rural areas of the country.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:10/8/2007
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