Greetings and Sales-utations

Remember when the Internet was going to kill the greeting card industry? Between email and e-cards, the practice of paying for a paper greeting and a stamp was supposedly onerous. But much like the "paperless office," it hasn't quite worked out that way. In fact, consumer spending on greeting cards is higher than ever, topping out at $11.5 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2006, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That doesn't even count many Christmas card sales.

• According to the Greeting Card Association (GCA), 90 percent of all U.S. households purchase at least one card per year. On average, households purchase 30 individual cards per year.
• The average card retails for $2–$4.
• Americans purchase nearly 7 billion greeting cards every year.

• According to the GCA, the average person receives more than 20 cards per year, about one-third of which are birthday cards.
• Christmas is the most popular card-giving occasion, accounting for 60 percent of the individual seasonal cards sold. The next most popular holidays are Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Easter and Father's Day. The most popular recipients of seasonal cards are parents, who receive about one out of every five cards.
• The most popular everyday occasion is birthday, which accounts for 60 percent of individual everyday cards sold. The next most popular are anniversary, get well, friendship and sympathy. The most popular recipients of everyday cards are friends, who receive about one out of every three.