Wedding Niche

This news should have gotten to you sooner. But I had thought to save the next installment of posts about niche marketing for a more appropriate time. Yesterday, though, I heard that a cousin has gotten engaged. Which means there’s a wedding in his future (Mazel tov!). Now this cannot wait.

To quote the official Stamp News Release No. 06-008 at www.usps.com:

Making it easier to mail wedding invitations, the US Postal Service issued the Our Wedding stamp booklet containing two beautiful new stamps. The one-ounce stamp is intended for use on the RSVP envelope often enclosed with a wedding invitation; the two-ounce stamp will accommodate the normal weight of a wedding invitation with enclosures.

This unique booklet was issued at Kleinfeld, the world’s most famous bridal salon, and featured a live fashion show. The stamps, available only in New York City today, will be available nationwide tomorrow, March 2.

Correctomundo: the Post Office has issued a pair of stamps for wedding invitations. Another phenomenal example of niche marketing – by a pretty savvy marketing organization.

How big is this market niche? Oh, not a niche…a canyon. (Over which, I suppose, is a promontory with a very large sign that says, “Lovers’ Leap.”)

According to one independent research report, circa the Year Three, a domestic wedding market generates about $50 billion in retail sales annually. Every year more than two million couples get married in the US…the 2006 wedding market in America is supposed to increase 1% over 2005 to an estimated 2,271,910 weddings. That’s a pretty specific number.

Couples (and their families without a doubt) will be spending an estimated average cost of $26,800 on their wedding. Not counting the honeymoon. Why? ‘Cause it supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime event, a major life milestone. Consumers tend to throw big budgets at the wedding and related purchases.

You can buy another, current report covering anticipated growth in the “wedding niche” ‘til 2010 here. You should, in case you need some supportive material for your own impending nuptial plan.

The Post Office, of course, is marketing these stamps as a matter of convenience. The PR release quotes the USPS Vice President of Consumer Affairs as saying, “Planning a wedding is no small task. By simplifying stamp buying, couples can mark off one item on their checklist.”

The USPS intro’d the new stamps at a bash in New York City on March 1 with [a] one of the oldest wedding dress emporiums in the city, [b] the Weddings Editor of The Knot, Inc. magazine; and [c] New York’s “premier wedding cake creator.” That’s an event!

Talk about niches – 2.3 million weddings mean at least 4.6 million brides and grooms. That’s the minimum number of market participants. The US defense industry doesn’t have nearly that kind of buyer population (though the “related purchases” come with much higher price tags).

The two stamps – with lavender and spring green backgrounds – are rather nice. The details:

“Our Wedding”
Pane of 40
$0.39 (one ounce) and $0.63 (two ounce)
Self-Adhesive
Price: $20.40

Keep the guest list to a mild roar and these could be one of the least expensive purchases of the total “marriage buy.” Better wed now, while the postal rates are low.