Moonpig sees increase in demand for AI cards
New research from the company suggests a 300% increase in searches for AI birthday cards
Shining a spotlight on the industry
Thursday, 30 Nov 2023 14:38 GMT
The online greeting card industry in the UK has grown from £90m in 2016 to £199m in 2022
Research and Google analysis from greetings card company, Moonpig, has suggested a huge surge in the popularity of new technology features within greeting cards.
According to the company, search data from Google demonstrates a huge surge in the popularity of searches for AI birthday cards, digital anniversary cards, as well as video message and VR cards.
The search trend increase of AI birthday cards is up 300% while digital and video message cards are up 150%.
Recently Moonpig added its Smart Text offering which offers a writing assistant to customers looking to perfect their greeting card messages with the help of AI.
While predictive and suggestive technology has existed for a number of years, recently AI has gained new popularity thanks to its ability to create new solutions and potentially free up work time and in-turn shake up future job roles.
James Huppler, vice president of product and design at Moonpig, says: “Within our industry, AI should enhance the customer experience and provide something completely new, which wasn’t previously possible.
“At Moonpig, we recently launched a new feature that uses generative AI to help customers with the common problem of not knowing what to write on the inside of a card.
“Resolving this issue is a great advancement for both of us and our customers and so we are excited to see how people interact with this new feature, whether it’s writing a poem to a loved one or even reading out a funny joke for your friend's birthday, and how we can learn from their behaviours to develop this further.”
According to media watchdog, Ofcom, around four in five British teenagers have used generative AI tools and services for school work or leisure.
Online publication, Visual Capitalist, recently cited a lack of quality control as well as accountability, misinformation, copyright infringement, and bias as problems with generative AI, echoing many concerns from the public around the loss of independent thinking.
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Moonpig says its approach to changing technology is part of its goal to offer customers a broader choice, enhanced convenience, hyper-personalised products, and an array of digital-enabled features.
As well as AI solutions, Moonpig has noted the increased popularity of video message cards, which are physical cards which allow customers to access to digital videos via a scannable QR code.
Discussing the rise of virtual reality (VR), Huppler says: “The increase in searches for VR greeting cards suggests an interest in VR/augment reality (AR) for customers in the future as VR technology continues to integrate with greeting cards.
“These technological advancements would mean that greeting cards must start to create more personalised, immersive, and experiential experiences for the customer. For example, no longer will our cards feature static images on the front, instead these images will be brought to life either through animation or even video messages from the sender to truly take personalisation to the next level.”
Looking to the future, Moonpig experts predict we will see personalisation come to the forefront as well as the further adoption of AI and an increase in instant digital cards and gifts.
Huppler concludes: “As technology evolves, the needs of our customers do too. Their behaviours and the way they interact with our cards will always continue to shape the future of the greeting cards industry. For instance, we know that customers want to be able to connect with loved ones on the move, from their phone, in a seamless way and this need to provide an on-demand service will continue to be a priority.”
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