Free Online Thanksgiving and Holiday eCards are a Growing Trend

With only days to go until Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season, greeting card companies are gearing up for another busy and profitable season. While traditional greeting cards still dominate the market, free online ecards for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holiday celebrations continue to grow in popularity and represent an increasing share of the greeting card market.

According to a recent survey among adults, published in the USA Today, the number of people who said that they plan to send holiday greeting cards electronically was 12 percent. Part of the rationale is that the electronic cards, or e-cards (ecards) are free. Additionally the ecards are often more entertaining, and for those last minute procrastinators, the free online ecards can be sent instantly.

An overwhelming majority of those surveyed, about 80 percent, still plan to send holiday and other greeting cards through the mail or deliver them in person. The missing 8 percent don’t plan to send any cards at all.

The growth of free online ecards is not seen as a bad thing by the major greeting card manufacturers. Instead the vast majority of companies have embraced the concept and offer the free e-cards online at their web sites. While they may not earn revenue from the free cards, it is an opportunity to engage from a marketing perspective with the sender and recipient. The more creative the free online ecards, the more “viral” they become, which draws more visitors to the card maker’s web site.