The first commercial Christmas Cards were sent in 1843 after being commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and designed by his artist friend John Horsley. Having introduced the Penny Stamp a few years earlier, Sir Henry was looking for ways to encourage the use of the post, plus cut down on the mountain of Christmas mail that families had to deal with. After being the first to start sending Christmas Cards, Sir Henry went on to found the V&A Museum who are hosting a history of Christmas this year.
The second Christmas card, designed by artist William Maw Egley came a few years later in 1848 and from then on Christmas Cards were rapidly embraced by the Victorians. By 1880, 11.5 million cards were being produced and now as a nation we are expected to send around a billion Christmas cards this December.
This is a time of year when people really appreciate a card dropping onto their doormat, and whilst we may live in a world of posting a Christmas message on social media or wishing our loved ones a ‘Merry Christmas’ on Whatsapp or Messenger, a Christmas Card is still something to be treasured.
Many businesses are missing out on this however, it’s all too easy to send a round robin email to suppliers and customers but emails can’t compete with the open rates that sending Christmas Cards enjoys. It’s an ideal time to reinforce your brand, and perhaps spread a little Christmas cheer with a voucher code or exclusive Christmas offer. Customers love to be valued and, whilst you can expect them to be deluged with sales emails at this time of year, nothing says they are special customers like a Christmas card with or without a discount code.
If you are going to be sending Christmas Cards to your customers this year, it makes sense to use business mail and one such option is Letters and Small Parcels by Whistl. You don’t need an account as you can access their services – including Letters and Small Parcels – through through Parcel2Go.
Whistl are the UK’s second-largest postal company and deliver 4 billion items a year. With Parcel2Go, you can save up to 35% on the cost of second-class stamps with same day collection when ordered before 11am. Your Christmas cards to your customers will still be delivered by their regular Postie in 3-5 working days from despatch. And the best part…. you don’t even have to attach stamps, just address your mail, put it all into a single box, book your postage online at Parcel2Go and with a single label for the box drop it off at a local collection point or sit back and wait for a carrier to collect from you.
