U.S. Greeting Cards Market (2026 - 2033) Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Personalized cards, Stationery Cards), By Price Range (Mid-Range, Premium/Luxury), By Distribution Channel (Online, Offline), And Segment Forecasts

U.S. Greeting Cards Market Summary

Emotional and social factors drive the U.S. greeting cards industry, as consumers increasingly seek meaningful ways to connect with family, friends, and colleagues. Rising awareness of mental health and emotional well-being has led to an increase in purchases of cards for encouragement, gratitude, and support, extending beyond traditional holidays.In the U.S., greeting card sales are strongly driven by calendar-locked consumer behavior rather than discretionary gifting. Major holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day are commercially structured events, with retailers allocating fixed shelf space months in advance and consumers buying cards as part of a routine shopping trip.

Cards are frequently purchased during grocery or pharmacy runs at chains like Walmart, Target, CVS, and Kroger, often minutes before an event. This last-minute buying behavior is a key reason physical cards remain relevant in the U.S., where convenience and immediacy take precedence over long-term planning. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce data published in March 2025, about 6.5 million greeting cards are purchased annually in the U.S.

In addition, greeting cards often serve as emotional anchors during significant or sensitive moments. In times when words are difficult to express, such as during loss, gratitude, or reconciliation, cards provide a socially accepted and emotionally safe way to communicate sentiment, making them increasingly relevant despite digital alternatives. For instance, according to the data published in November 2023, in a survey of 2,000 Americans, 55% preferred to receive a personalized message rather than an AI-generated message.

Consumer Insights

The U.S. greeting cards market is heavily female-driven, with women accounting for roughly three-quarters of users. This reflects real household behavior in the U.S., where women are more often responsible for maintaining social and family connections, remembering occasions, and purchasing cards alongside gifts during routine retail trips to grocery and drug stores.

In the U.S. greeting cards industry,

• Millennials make up the largest user base because they are juggling multiple social and family roles that create frequent, obligation-driven occasions such as children’s birthdays, weddings, school events, and family celebrations.

• Baby Boomers, although fewer in number, buy cards more consistently per person and are less likely to skip traditional occasions, such as holidays, anniversaries, and sympathy events, making them highly important from a revenue stability perspective.

• Gen Z remains a smaller, selective segment, typically purchasing cards only for specific moments such as Valentine’s Day or birthdays, often driven by social expectation rather than habit, which limits their overall contribution to sustained demand.

Key consumer pain points in greeting card purchases are practical and situational rather than emotional. Buyers often struggle with message mismatch, where cards are close but not exact in wording, and forced sentiment, especially for modern or non-traditional relationships. Last-minute stress is common due to reliance on physical stores, and wasted spending reflects frustration over paying premium prices for single-use items. Poor relevance further limits choice, particularly outside major holidays.

In terms of brands, Hallmark clearly dominates in preference, benefiting from an unmatched retail presence and broad coverage of occasions. American Greetings follows with strong mass-market distribution, while Papyrus wins in premium and design-focused segments. Tender Thoughts and Gibson Greetings hold smaller but stable positions, mainly through value pricing and selective retail placements. Overall, brand success in the U.S. is closely tied to shelf visibility, pricing tiers, and how well messages align with everyday American relationships and occasions.

Seasonality Trends

The greeting-card market in the U.S. continues to be strongly shaped by seasonal peaks tied to major occasions such as Christmas/New Year, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduations. For example, while Christmas remains the highest-volume occasion, other holidays also register significant card-sentiment waves: around 59 million cards are exchanged for graduation and roughly 40 million for Easter. Consequently, industry players time product launches, marketing campaigns, in-store display rollouts, and stocking logistics around these periods to capture the surge in demand.

Seasonality plays a significant role in the demand for greeting cards in the U.S., with key holidays driving the bulk of sales each year. As per the Greeting Card Association, Christmas was the dominant occasion, which accounted for 73.4% of greeting card demand in 2023. This makes it the most significant season for the greeting card industry as people purchase cards for family and friends as well as for colleagues, clients, and acquaintances.

Other holidays, such as Valentine’s Day (8.2%), Mother’s Day (6.4%), and Father’s Day (4.1%), also played a crucial role in the seasonal greeting card market. These occasions reflect personal expressions of love, appreciation, and gratitude, leading to a high demand for cards with heartfelt, intimate messages. Theme-based greeting cards are popular for holidays such as Halloween (1.1%), Thanksgiving (0.9%), and St. Patrick’s Day (0.4%). On these occasions, people prefer using such cards as fun, light-hearted gestures rather than for deeper emotional expression.

For the spring window leading up to Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduations, there is an observable rise in demand for personalized, eco-friendly materials and niche-design greeting cards. Retailers report deploying end-aisle displays and relocating card fixtures into flower, gift, and checkout zones ahead of these occasions. During major gift-giving holidays, the tradition of sending physical cards remains a strong one.

Type Insights

Stationery cards held a market share of 65.30%% in 2025, due to their broad everyday usage across birthdays, anniversaries, sympathy, and seasonal occasions, along with wide availability, lower price points, and continued consumer preference for handwritten messages over digital alternatives for personal and formal communication.

The personalized cards segment is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 2.4% from 2026 to 2033, due to strong demand for customization, photo-based designs, and premium, emotionally driven gifting. A survey highlighted in a Shutterfly press release found that more than half of surveyed consumers (55%) expressed a preference for unique, personalized messages over generic or AI-generated greetings.

Price Range Insights

Mid-range greeting cards in the U.S. held a market share of 54.12% in 2025, supported by their optimal balance of design quality, messaging variety, and price accessibility. These cards appeal to a broad consumer base, making them a popular choice for both everyday use and seasonal gifting occasions, where consumers seek attractive designs without premium pricing. Their wide availability across offline and online retail channels further reinforced their leading position in the market.

Premium/Luxury greeting cards are anticipated to witness a CAGR of 2.2% from 2026 to 2033, as mass-market racks are crowded and uninspiring. Hence, consumers increasingly turn to specialty stores, boutiques, and online platforms for unique designs, higher-quality materials, and distinctive artwork. These cards appeal to buyers who want their gesture to stand out on important occasions, and the willingness to pay extra is reinforced by the perception that a premium card signals thoughtfulness and care, especially when sending to friends and family who are farther away or hold a special place in one's life.

Distribution Channel Insights

The sale of greeting cards through offline channels accounted for 71.55% share of the U.S. market in 2025, due to widespread retail availability, in-store gifting occasions, and consumer preference for tactile, physically browseable cards. Offline channels benefit from impulse buying linked to gift-giving occasions and seasonal events, while many consumers continue to prefer tactile, in-store card browsing to evaluate design, message, and quality before making a purchase.

For instance, in December 2025, Minted, a design-focused brand known for working with independent artists, started offering its artist-designed greeting cards in Whole Foods Market stores across the U.S., making them available in more than 520 locations nationwide.

The sale of greeting cards through the online channel is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.6% from 2026 to 2033. Online platforms enable buyers to browse extensive selections from multiple brands, often from the comfort of their own homes or on mobile devices, without geographical limitations. This ease of access eliminates the need to visit multiple brick-and-mortar stores in search of the right design, message, or price point, making it especially appealing for busy individuals or those planning for special occasions.

Key U.S. Greeting Cards Company Insights

The greeting cards industry is shaped by a mix of long-standing brands and emerging designers who continue to innovate in themes, formats, and sustainability to suit evolving consumer preferences.

Leading companies focus on delivering high-quality designs, premium materials, and emotionally resonant messages, while also integrating elements such as personalization, multimedia features, and eco-friendly production methods.

By partnering with large retail chains, supermarkets, bookstores, and specialty gift shops, as well as expanding through online marketplaces and customizable card platforms, these players are ensuring strong omnichannel accessibility and a greater market reach.

Recent Developments

• In October 2025, Engage2Excel entered into a new partnership with American Greetings to bring enhanced employee recognition offerings to workplaces through its engagement and reward platforms. The collaboration combines Engage2Excel’s expertise in workforce recognition with American Greetings’ creative eCards and messaging tools, enabling organizations to celebrate and appreciate employees more easily.

• In February 2025, American Greetings broadened its digital gifting options on its website, enabling people to attach a wider range of virtual gifts to online greeting cards for occasions throughout the year. In addition to retail gift cards, senders can now include items such as custom songs, travel experience vouchers, and even cash with their digital cards, making the service more versatile and appealing.

• In January 2025, Hallmark launched Gift Card Greetings, combining a traditional card with a digital gift. Shoppers select a design, choose a gift from over 100 brands, add an amount, and write a message. Recipients scan a code and enter a PIN to redeem the digital gift, merging a personal touch with digital convenience.

• In September 2024, KORBLE is transforming how people send greetings by launching NFC-embedded smart greeting cards that blend traditional paper cards with digital interactivity. These cards utilize near-field communication technology to enable recipients to view a personalized 15-second video message by simply tapping their smartphone on the card, without requiring any special app or subscription.

U.S. Greeting Cards Market Report Scope

U.S. Greeting Cards Market Report Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at the country level and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2021 to 2033. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the U.S. greeting cards market report on the basis of type, price range, and distribution channel:

• Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2021 - 2033)

  • Paper Photo Cards

  • Personalized cards

  • Invitation Cards

  • Stationery Cards

  • Others

• Price Range Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2021 - 2033)

  • Mass/Value

  • Mid-Range

  • Premium/Luxury

• Distribution Channel (Revenue, USD Million, 2021 - 2033)

  • Offline

    • Hypermarkets & Supermarkets

    • Convenience Stores

    • Stationery Stores

    • Others

  • Online