The common use of SMSs and Internet sources have immensely promoted E-Cards culture, which has led to slow down the industry of traditional Eid cards. As all these electronic means of communication are much cheaper and time saving also therefore the general public is more interested in visiting markets to purchase Eid cards.
Most of the shopkeepers in Kalay Mandi, Shaheen Market, Gulgasht colony opined that there was a significant reduction in sales that has gone below 80 per cent as compared to the previous year.
However, with the development of science and technology, as it was observed during a survey conducted by this scribe here, on Sunday, the use of E-Cards among the youth has greatly decreased the popularity of these greeting cards. But the mobile phones and SMS can never carry the same sentiments and feelings as greeting cards do.
Talking to this scribe the shopkeepers of Shaheen Market informed that the Eid cards industry was confronting a huge downfall in a last couple of years. They said that the SMS packages and price-hike of basic commodities were the main cause of nominal sale of Eid cards. "It takes almost Rs 150 to send a simple greeting card to your beloved ones. Trend of sending Eid cards has almost come to an end now," a shopkeeper commented.
Another shopkeeper informed that he opened his stall daily from 10 am to 12 am but his sales of Eid cards was less than a Rs 1,000. Interestingly, on asking which type of cards fetch you most sales, the shopkeeper said that Valentine's Day cards are the most popular ones these days.
Three days of selling Valentine's Day cards bring us more profit than we earn in 30 days for selling Eid cards, he added. It was observed that only young boys and girls borrowed money to buy Valentine's Day cards but do not want to spend single penny on Eid cards. Yet another shopkeeper said there were so many people whose bread and butter was directly associated with Eid greeting cards but now it seemed to vanish soon.
He told that greeting cards were the source of income for many Pakistani households especially women and children who used to make fancy and plastic toys, but they lost it due to the increasing supply of foreign products in the market. However, interestingly, not all the shopkeepers of the City were of the same opinion. The scribe found a shopkeeper who disagreed that increasing trend of mobile phone messages had caused the demand for Eid cards slow.
"All greeting cards are being sold at reasonable prices except Eid cards but this is not because of Mobile phones and SMS packages," he added. "The messages printed on greeting cards are poetic and comforting. The Eid cards industry would never die out because they can refresh people's memory in a much better way than a simple E-mail or SMS," an Eid card lover, Nasreen Atta commented.
Shopkeepers at certain bookshops in Liberty Market informed about a special class that still purchases Eid cards. But it was observed that people are not so enthusiastic about sending Eid cards to their loved ones, inside and outside the city as they did few years back. Some believed that the greeting cards especially Eid cards will gain its popularity again. People would get irritated one day, as the SMSs and sending messages via e-mail can never replace greeting cards.