charity card shopping goes online

Release date: 17 October 2000

CHARITY CARD SHOPPING ONLINE

A new online shopping site – selling Christmas and everyday greetings cards – has been launched.

The user-friendly site is unique because a significant proportion of sales go to over 25 leading UK charities, including Age Concern, Diabetes UK, the British Heart Foundation, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the NSPCC.

The Newcastle upon Tyne-based Greetings Card Company has launched www.charitycards.co.uk to meet the growing demand for shopping on the virtual high street. It succeeds an earlier site, much more modest in scope, and first launched last year.

The concept is simple – people can buy Christmas or greetings cards at their convenience on the internet and know precisely how much will be received by the participating charities. The website also allows charities, for the first time, to generate income through sales of everyday greetings cards.
Charities benefit from a higher contribution than is often available through the high street from sales of cards that carry their name because overheads can be kept to a minimum.

The website also offers an overprinting service on over 200 cards at Christmas for corporate use.

A substantial 66% per cent of the retail price (excluding VAT) of all sales of charity produced Christmas cards is paid to the relevant charitys trading company. Fifteen per cent of the retail price (excluding VAT) of all sales of everyday and overprinted cards is passed on. Customers either nominate their favourite charity to receive the royalty or elect for it to be shared equally between the participating charities. The site offers the visitor information on each of the participating charities along with a link to the charitys website.

www.charitycards.co.uk features an extensive range of around 200 charity-produced Christmas cards. Site browsers are also able to choose from over 1000 everyday greetings cards including birthday, special occasion and blank cards. Usefully, stamps and a personalised card service are available online with surfers able to buy hand-written one-off cards to send to friends. Orders for everyday and charity Christmas cards are normally despatched within 12 hours, and overprinted Christmas cards within two weeks. A next day delivery service is offered.

Importantly the new site incorporates improved search and navigation features making card selection easier and faster. Browsers can cross reference card selection, and face minimum download time and scrolling.

Site founder William Ruffman said: We are offering a service for busy people, charity-conscious card buyers who are unable to get to the high street or prefer to do their shopping online. This new site uses the latest technology to make shopping easier and faster than ever before."

Ends

Issued on behalf of The Greetings Card Company by Mitchell Halton Watson (contact Wayne Halton or Ruth Nichols on 0191 230 8078).

Media enquiries:   William Ruffman
         Managing Director
         The Greetings Card Company      0191 261 6263

Note to editors: Charities participating in the site include – Age Concern, Amnesty International, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, British Epilepsy Association, British Heart Foundation, British Lung Foundation, British Red Cross, Diabetes UK, Downs Syndrome Association, Help the Hospices, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Mencap, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, National Eczema Society, NCH Action for Children, NSPCC, Parkinsons Disease Society, Royal British Legion, Royal National Institute for the Blind, RSPCA, Save the Children, Shelter, The Terrence Higgins Trust and The Blue Cross.