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Giftware Industry Report

UNITY MARKETING REPORTS GIFTWARE INDUSTRY TOPS $55 BILLION IN SALES

Home Decoratives is top-selling segment in giftware industry

Stevens, PA, June 15, 2000

     Posting an increase of 9% over the previous year, the gifts and decorative accessories market generated retail sales of $55.3 billion in 1999, according to the latest research report from Unity Marketing, entitled The Gifts and Decorative Accessories Report: The Market, The Industry, The Trends. "Today's gifts market is experiencing dynamic growth as consumers buy more gifts and home decorative products for themselves, as a personal reward," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing. "Further, gifts and home decorative products are gaining more exposure to consumers through a wide-range of shopping venues including the national retail chains, such as Pottery Barn, Yankee Candle, Bath and Body Works, Bombay Company, Pier One, Crate and Barrel, and Kirklands, department stores, mass merchants and the Internet. In the face of these new competitive outlets, the small privately-owned specialty gift stores are losing market share and playing a less important role as a consumer source for gifts. "

"In the past two years consumers spent more money on home furnishings than they did on clothes. With this new emphasis on home decorating, consumers are not just striving to make their homes more 'beautiful,' rather they are seeking decorative items that can positively impact the mood and emotional climate of their home. Products which have a personal, emotional link to the consumer, such as collectibles or gifts based upon licensed properties or which appeal to multiple senses, including sight, sound, scent, are in demand as consumers seek to make their homes more comfortable and comforting," notes Danziger.

The future of the gifts and home decorative market is positive for the next several years, Unity Marketing predicts. "A significant consumer trend that will play out in the gifts and home decoratives market, as well as many other consumer product categories, will be a reaction against our increasingly technology-driven culture. As their lives become more 'virtual' and dependent upon computers and technology, consumers will seek out gifts and decorative products which will help ground them in the 'real' world. The new touchstone for consumer marketers is to make their products more 'REAL,' more concrete, more solid, more grounded in reality," Danziger explains.

In 1999 the top-selling segment in the giftware industry was Home Decorative Accessories, which garnered $14.9 billion in sales, a 13% increase, up from $13.2 billion in 1998. "We are seeing consumers returning to the home, craving products to enhance the quality of their busy, stressed lives. They want products that provide comfort to them, products they don't necessarily need, but ones they 'have to have.' Products satisfying this consuming need, such as candles, decorative frames, tabletop gifts, and vases have fueled growth in this segment in the past year," explains Danziger. Among the fastest growing categories in the Home Decorative Accessories segment, Frames were up 97% to $1.9 billion; Tabletop gifts, up 32% to $1.2 billion; Vases/Urns/Pots, also up 32% to $1 billion, and Decorative Boxes and Tins, up 19% to $912 million. Candles, the dominant category in the segment, also posted gains, reaching $2.2 billion on 7% growth.

Stationery, Greeting Cards, and Paper Products is the second largest segment of the giftware market, reaching $13.3 billion in sales for 1999, up 10% from 1998. While greeting card sales were flat in 1999, growth in the category was fueled by Social Stationery, which reached $797 million in 1999, up 72% from 1998 and Gift Bags and Wrap, up 57% to $1 billion. "This segment is being strongly impacted by the Internet, with more and more websites offering virtual greeting cards that can be electronically mailed at a fraction of the cost of a paper card. At the same time, social stationery is on the rise as consumers start to swing back to communicating with friends and family once again the old-fashioned way; on paper, even if a personal computer was used to write and print the letter."

Collectibles is the only category in gifts posting a decrease in 1999, with sales declining 2% to $10.4 billion. Notes Danziger, "Although the number of people that define themselves as a 'collector' grew in 1999, industry sales fell. Collectors were buying fewer products offered by the collectible manufacturers, and there were marked decreases in the two largest categories in collectibles; figurines and dolls."

The General Gifts segment achieved $12.7 billion in sales for 1999, up 9% from the $11.6 billion made in 1998. Seasonal Decorations, the smallest category in the giftware industry, yet posting the highest gains in 1999, rose 15% over 1998 levels to reach $3.9 billion in sales. With Christmas Decor still dominating the category, Halloween Decor was the fastest-growing segment, up 53% over the previous year. "This growth trend is due in part to the consumer's desire to celebrate different holidays through decoration. While in the past December was the prime month for decorating the home, the decorating season now extends for three months, starting in October with Halloween, through November with Thanksgiving and on into December for Christmas. In addition, Easter is also growing as a decorating event," according to Danziger.

This new research report, The Gifts and Decorative Accessories Report: The Market, The Industry, The Trends examines in detail the giftware market and is based upon surveys among gift-ware manufacturers, specialty gift retailers and consumers. It details industry sales by segment, leading categories, distribution channels, growth trends and projections. It also examines in-depth the retail market for gifts and decorative accessories which now accounts for about 61% of industry sales. Insights into the consumer market for gifts, including motivations, purchasing patterns and consumer demographics, are also included. The report is available for $2,250 from Unity Marketing, a marketing services and research firm which unites consumer marketers with their target markets.

 

Every year, Halloween enthusiasts anxiously await the retail industry to begin their Halloween season and see who's first to stock products for the spooky season. Many stores begin stocking Halloween products as early as July!

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