ClickZ Stationery | Paper Vs Digital: Premium Moments Still Choose Print

ClickZ Stationery

Here's what's happening this week in the world of stationery:
- Paper invitations hold ground in a digital-first world
- Stone paper roadmap points to lower-footprint materials
- Stationery earnings show resilient category demand
- UAE retailer launches early back-to-school bundles
- Fourteen-item coworker gift guide

⏱️ Why Your Attribution Model Might Be Leading You Astray

At eTail Boston 2025, Fospha’s Chief Product Officer Dom Devlin joined leaders from Ahold Delhaize, Fleet Feet and Bonsai to tackle one of marketing’s most expensive blind spots: how brands measure performance across channels.

Too many brands still skew budgets toward the final click - because that’s the only place their reporting gives them certainty, all while under-funding the demand generation that actually drives long-term growth. Fleet Feet’s Tiffany Lee shared how cutting upper-funnel spend for just eight months saw new customer acquisition drop sharply, only recovering once awareness campaigns were restored.

Dom added another layer: the marketplace blind spot. Fospha’s data shows 42% of Amazon sales are influenced by non-Amazon ads - yet most reporting tools treat those sales as “organic,” meaning the channels that triggered the purchase never get the credit. Without that visibility, key growth drivers are left under-invested.

This is where Fospha’s Halo capability comes in - bringing DTC and marketplace sales into one Unified ROAS metric. It allows brands to see the true impact of channels like TikTok, Meta, and YouTube across all revenue streams, not just their own sites, and make confident, evidence-based decisions about where to spend next.

🔎 Read the full session insights to see all the panel’s takeaways on full-funnel measurement and closing marketplace gaps

📥️ Explore Fospha’s Halo Report to uncover how brands like Nécessaire used it to beat their Prime Day benchmarks by 47%

📌WEEKLY MUST-KNOWS

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
St. Louis Stationery Designers Talk Paper Versus Digital Invitations

Local stationers report that, even in a digital-first era, custom paper invitations remain relevant for high‑stakes events. That keeps premium print SKUs and hybrid print-to-digital experiences (QR, tracking) strategically important for brand storytelling and conversion. Impact: stationery brands, event marketers and printers aligning assortments and CX for wedding/celebration peaks.

MARKET EXPANSION
8 Young Stationery Makers Make Debut At UK’s Autumn Fair
Greetings Lab will showcase eight first-time creators at Autumn Fair (Sept. 7-10, NEC Birmingham), putting fresh designs in front of 12,000+ buyers. For U.S. importers and DTC brands, the curated talent pipeline signals new licensing and holiday-range opportunities as trade shows remain critical discovery hubs.

MATERIALS & SUSTAINABILITY
Roadmap For Setting Up A Stone Paper Manufacturing Plant Project
A new roadmap outlines how to manufacture stone paper—an eco‑oriented substrate made from calcium carbonate and resin—offering an alternative to wood‑pulp paper. For notebooks, packaging and signage, this could lower environmental footprint and open premium positioning with sustainability claims. Impact: product and sourcing teams evaluating cost, printability, and supply partners.

⚡QUICK READS

Real Simple Picks Functional Desk Gifts: Fourteen-item coworker gift guide highlights premium pens, planners and tumblers—early signal of Q4 corporate gifting demand.(More)

UAE Retailer Launches Early Back-To-School Push: Union Coop’s campaign underscores aggressive seasonal timing and broad assortments (stationery to edu-tech), a signal to calibrate US BTS promotions, bundles and price ladders now.(More)

Budget BTS Lists Reveal Price Anchors: A Dh1000 BTS guide highlights consumer gravitation to durable, value-led backpacks, lunch kits and stationery—informing assortment, AOV targets and promo mechanics for US retailers.(More)

ClickZ is a ClickZ Media publication in the DTC eCommerce division