The global market for Greeting Cards is expected to slump by -3.6% in the year 2020 and will continue to decline, shrinking to a size of US$20.4 billion by the year 2027, trailing a post COVID-19 CAGR of -1.7% over the analysis period 2020 through 2027. The year 2020 is set to go down into history as the year of turmoil, tragedy & human suffering. Sending timely sentiments the old fashioned way through physical greeting cards has come to end. With new studies showing COVID-19 causing coronavirus to be "extremely robust" than earlier suppositions, the threat posed by surface transmission in real life is growing bigger. New lab studies conducted in Australia have shown the virus capable of surviving on smooth surfaces like bank notes, glass and plastic for upto 28 days in lab conditions. Fears over getting infected from handling posts therefore remains strong, discouraging people from sending and receiving non-essential posts, packages and parcels. Also, in a year mired with disruption, sadness, anxiety, and stress, greeting card companies are finding it challenging to come up with the right messages for their 2020 holiday cards that convey the same sentiments as what people want to share with their friends and family.

Despite the tough economic climate, various companies have come up with coronavirus greeting cards to help people share their feelings with their loved ones. Companies such as Etsy, Amazon, Hallmark and Paper & Honey are offering an extensive range of COVID-19 related greeting cards mentioning coronavirus, quarantine, social distancing and masks. These cards are enjoying immense gains and popularity among consumers. These timely cards are intended to reflect the current situation as well as are highly authentic and meaningful. In addition, coronavirus greeting cards demonstrate special efforts made by a person for someone in the very moment. Coronavirus greeting cards are aimed at providing people with the required break from videoconferences and computer or mobile screens allowing them to share laughter and joy with others during the pressing situation. The tradition of greeting cards emerged in ancient times, traced to the Egyptian and Chinese. The people of China send goodwill messages to family and friends for New Year. The Egyptians used to send a broad range of greetings that are printed on papyrus scrolls. In Europe, handcrafted greeting cards started becoming popular in the 1400s. Europeans started exchanging specially designed cards during Valentine's Day in 1415. Greeting card became extremely popular in the 1880s, on account of the introduction of Penny Post in England, resulting in postage becoming cheaper. The concept of holiday greeting card, which was also called 'Christmas Card,' emerged in 1843, with the creation of holiday greeting for distribution to family and friends.

The post COVID-19 period will see resurgence of demand for electronic greeting cards. Prior to the digital communications age, the greeting cards market was a high growth market, as it was the most effective means available for consumers to convey feelings and wishes to their loved ones. The instantaneous nature of digital communications has however changed the scenario with consumers now having a plethora of options to convey their messages and feelings, ousting for the large part, the traditional and age-old feeling expression mechanism of physical/ real greeting cards. The social media has especially provided people with several new ways of affirming emotions and attracted towards itself, a large percentage of the loyal physical greeting card consumers. Volume sales of greeting cards were especially hit by this trend. Makers and vendors of physical greetings cards are presenting confronting immense pressure to quickly shift towards offering innovative products to stay relevant. In the recent times, the trend towards sending online digital greetings has grown rapidly driven by the rise in social media and other digital communication means. People even in the remotest parts of the world are in a position to access and send digital greeting cards to their loved ones at any time and from anywhere in the world. Not just greeting cards, but browsing, bargaining and purchasing gifts has also become extremely convenient with online shopping, a growing trend that is directly affecting the brick and mortar retail sales around the world. The increasing penetration of smartphones is also impacting consumer markets in a far-reaching way, the impact of which is evident on greeting cards and gifts industry. In the coming years, the global online revolution will result in a significant transformation in the way people think and feel about greeting cards. Social media is expected to take on the greetings market, in a big way, in future, resulting in serious implications for the manufacturers as well as marketers operating in the industry.