Valentine's Day dilemma: OK to e-mail a card?

Valentine's Day has always been about risky choices such as chocolates or flowers and whether to pop the question or not, but now the holiday has come down to whether it's VC (Valentine Correct) to send an e-card instead of a greeting card.

Traditional Valentine's Day cards won't be going away anytime soon. "Even my 18-year-old daughter said if she only got a text rather than a card from her boyfriend, she'd be unhappy," says Kathy Krassner, director of communications for the Greeting Card Association in Washington, D.C.

That's one reason Krassner anticipates sales of Valentine's Day cards will "remain relatively stable over last year's number of 145 million purchased."

Nevertheless, compared with sales of other gifts associated with Valentine's Day, greeting cards will exhibit the least amount of growth in 2014, according to IBISWorld. The research firm expects just 0.9% growth in the category on an annual basis compared with 2.1% for clothing and lingerie, 2.5% for candy, 3.9% for flowers, 4.1% for dining out, 4.2% for jewelry and 5.1% for a romantic getaway.

Additionally, just weeks before Valentine's Day, the cost of a first-class stamp was raised to 49 cents. The increase could not have come at a worse time for the greeting card industry because, according to the Greeting Card Association, roughly 60% of greeting cards are sent using the United States Postal Service. And with Valentine's Day being the second largest holiday (after Christmas) for purchasing cards, IBISWorld industry analyst Brandon Ruiz says that consumers will be "less likely to purchase greetings cards and more likely to purchase e-cards, which are more affordable."

Thousands of electronic valentines, many incorporating animation and music, can be personalized and e-mailed from a variety of websites. E-card prices range from free to $12 to $15 as part of an annual subscription.

Krassner says she's not sure how the postal hike will impact Valentine's Day sales, since many of those cards are hand! ed over in person. One thing she is certain about is that a real card has more of an impact.

"If someone makes the effort to go out and purchase it, and maybe put a stamp on it, that shows a physical expression of how much you care," she says.

While the rate rise may be seen as anti-Valentine, the Postal Service has taken some steps to woo card-inclined clientele. On Jan. 21, it released the Cut Paper Heart Forever Stamp, this year's limited-edition Love stamp.

The Post Office describes the stamp as "a large white heart enclosing a smaller pink heart with a saw-toothed edge along its left-hand side." Within a week dozens of people said they liked the design on the USPS Stamp's Facebook page. Best of all, the stamp is immune to future rate hikes. Who says love isn't forever?

Beyond the damage caused by postal rate hikes, Ruiz says that "greeting card retailers have struggled to capture a younger customer base." Instead of visiting brick-and-mortar stores, "Consumers aged 24 and younger are increasingly deferring to digital services. Younger demographics are also opting to use social media websites, such as Facebook, as a substitute for purchasing greeting cards." Still, IBISWorld expects e-cards will account for a mere $25 million or 0.4% of the greeting card retailing industry in 2014.

As we're just one day away from Feb. 14, you'll need to decide quickly whether it's appropriate (or VC) to e-mail a virtual card or get an actual card.