Greeting Card Universe Expands with U.K. Production Facility
SAN RAMON, CA—April 26, 2011—To better serve the European market, Greeting Card Universe (GreetingCardUniverse.com) announces a new printing and fulfillment operation located in the United Kingdom complementing its existing U.S.-based operations. Now with printing and fulfillment operations in both the United Kingdom and the United States, the company is poised to better serve greeting card shoppers around the globe.
“In order to compete effectively in Europe, we needed to step things up and find a solution to cut down on delivery times, customs delays and shipping costs,“ stated Mike Fake, Chief Financial Officer of parent company BigDates Solutions.
Although distribution from its U.S. facility is effective in getting greeting cards anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, typically within five and seven business days, respectively with standard shipping and even quicker with expedited shipping options, Greeting Card Universe was not satisfied with delivery times across the pond.
While U.S. shoppers have long enjoyed the benefits of a nearby distribution operation, now so can European shoppers. Shipping costs for Europe bound orders have been reduced by over 70 percent. Additionally, delivery times have plummeted from what was once upwards of several weeks to now just one or two days in the United Kingdom and less than five days elsewhere in Europe.
But reduced delivery time and shipping costs are not the only attraction. Enter Greeting Card Universe’s offering of unique and hard-to-find greeting cards not available in neighborhood and convenience stores. Cards in different languages (Italian, French, Greek, Russian, Portuguese, Finnish, etc.) and not so everyday holidays and occasions (Name Day, Tartan Day, Mothering Sunday, Bastille Day, Boxing Day, Saints and Feast Days, etc.), for example, are very attractive to shoppers outside of the United States.
Continued Fake, “With the UK market boasting the highest number of cards purchased per capita in the world, soaring 50 percent higher than that in the U.S., we clearly could not ignore that market any longer. We will continue to expand operations to serve the UK and European markets including better support and services for European members of our valued artist community.”
Representing 15 percent of Greeting Card Universe’s artist community, European artists will benefit as well. Not only can these artists now source their own greeting cards more economically but also garner additional sales of their cards designed to hit the sweet spot of regional card buyers.
Now the perfect card coupled with lower shipping costs and faster delivery greatly strengthens Greeting Card Universe’s position in serving the U.K. and European markets.
About Greeting Card Universe
Greeting Card Universe (www.greetingcarduniverse.com) is a division of BigDates Solutions, a private company focused on providing consumers with unique services for special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, and more. Greeting Card Universe is the largest greeting card store in the world, offering thousands of birthday cards, invitations, bridesmaid cards, and more. The company also owns Birthday Calendar on Facebook, a birthday application with over 47 million users recently relaunched in partnership with American Greetings.
Source: Company release.