The Washington Post has an article that says less people are sending postal cards the old fashion way. Snail mail greeting cards are falling according to data from a couple sources. The U.S. Postal Service says first-class mail was down about 11% for the first two weeks of Decemeber.
For the first two weeks of December, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman Michael Woods, "we are seeing about an 11 percent decrease in first-class cancellations from last year, which is a good proxy for the number of cards and letters coming through the system."
A company named Datamonitor told the Post that they are seeing a 10% to 15% decrease in greeting cards delivered via snail mail.
"We see a 10 to 15 percent decline in the overall volume of mailed paper greeting cards this year," said Neil Hendry of Datamonitor, a New York-based retail analysis firm. "There are two principal reasons: technology and the economy."
As Datamonitor says this is partly because of the recession but it is also part of a trend. People that keep in touch with Facebook and email may see less of a need to mail greeting cards. Home printers can also reduce the need for maiing a greeting card. If you are going to be visiting someone you can hand deliver a greeting card made with your fancy home color laser printer. Companies are also embracing the printed method. Amazon.com recently starting offering printed gift cards that include a holiday greeting.
