183On the second Sunday of May every year, Mother's Day sparks a wave of consumer frenzy in Europe and America. According to statistics from the National Retail Federation and other organizations,Mother's Day spending in the US is expected to reach $38 billion in 2026, hitting a record high.
On the US Tuke, gift searches under the keyword "mother" have soared sharply.However,most of the content under the #mothersday topicis about showing offflowersand unboxing,which has long causedaesthetic fatigue.
At this time, a niche brand called Paper Love emerged, breaking through the homogeneous content by focusing on 3D pop-up Mother's Day greeting cards.
Looking at the backend data from the past30 days,the brand store sold55,400greeting cards alone, with a GMVreaching$736,800, about5,010,700RMB.
Image source:Kalodata
Husband-and-wife workshop,how did it become the top playerin the greeting card track
In the greeting card industry, which everyone thinks is old-fashioned,Paper Love has actually achieved top-tier results.
The Paper Love brand was only established in 2018,originally started bythe couple Kayla and Joel Mayeras a family business, headquarteredin the US,and isa small family enterprise.
Unlikethe mass-produced greeting cards flooding the market,Paper Love chose a difficult path from the very beginning.Their pop-up cards are all made fromtop European craft card stock,each card isspecially designed byorigami and paper-cutting artists in Vietnam,and finallyhand-carvedto shape.
In the early stages of brand development,Paper Love relied on Amazon to scale up.
Becausethe quality is almost on par with high-end handicrafts, and the product line is complete, covering all major holidays such as birthdays, weddings, graduations, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Father's Day, they have accumulated tens of thousands of five-star reviews on Amazon and have even been recommended by well-known media likeWirecutter.
By2024, the brand alsoreceiveda highly prestigious nomination in the US greeting card industry—theLouie Award for "Paper Engineering & Innovation",firmly establishing its professional status in the greeting card industry.
Image source:Paper Love
Sunset industry?Greeting cardsare actuallya big businessmaking money from emotions
When it comes to the greeting card industry, many people's first reaction is"sunset industry".With social media being so developed nowadays, who would still pay for a piece of paper? But real market datatells a different story.
Looking at the latest industry reports,the global greeting card market size in 2026is about$21.98 billion, and by 2032it can rise to$29.01 billion, with a CAGRof4.7%.
Even in the US market, where digital communication is extremely developed, the greeting card industry has not shrunk. Data shows thatthe US greeting card market size will be about $7.12 billion in 2025, and is expected to grow to $8.07 billion by 2033.
Image source:research and markets
Meanwhile,modernconsumers' gift-giving preferenceshave alsocreated real demand forthe greeting card category.
According to a survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF), 74% of consumers on Mother's Daywillbuy flowers and greeting cards, and greeting cards have always beena must-have for holiday gifts.Moreover, greeting cards are no longer just an accessory to gifts; they are becoming the main gift.
In the past two years, you can see onTuke thatwell-made3D pop-up greeting cards are no longer just an accessory to gifts; they themselves carry enough emotional value and social buzz. The visual impact when opening the card, the exquisite paper art structure, and the ability to be kept as home decor for a long time make greeting cards true main characters.
Image source:Paper Love
Nobig spending on hard ads, relying onuser-generated contentto getmillions of exposures
If you attributePaper Love's market success to product differentiation, that's only half right. What really made it stand out from the crowd is that it understood Tuke's content logic.
Unlikeother brands that spend heavily on ads and hire topKOLs,Paper Love'sapproach is particularly unconventional.In the past30 days,theirTuke shop has collaborated with1,591creators, publishing5,200product videos. Most of these creators have few followers but appear very authentic, and their selling styleissimple to the extreme.
Image source:kalodata
The most viral video among these comes fromcreator@ttshopright2.
The videois not a conventional product showcase, but a supermarket shopping scene: the blogger is struggling to choose a gift, and when the camera pans to the greeting card section, a passerby hands over aPaper Love card, opening it in front of the camera and surprising everyone.
Such a small "accidental recommendation" plotmadethe video reach18.3 million views, generating over 5,280 orders and nearly $66,300 in sales.
Image source:Tuke
Another viral product video took an emotional route.
A male blogger spoke from a female perspective, sharing the true meaning of gift-giving: luxury cars and designer bags can be ceremonial, but a heartfelt greeting card can be just as touching. This kind ofnon-hard-sell content,focusing onemotional resonance,directlybrought nearly1,600 orders,with over4.7 million views.
Image source:Tuke
While collaborating with creators,Paper Lovehas alsobeenrunningits officialTuke account.
As of now, the brand's official account@paperlove.cardshas gained19,000 followers, mainly featuring product showcases with a simple and direct style, focusing on the core concept of "the gift they'll never throw away".
Image source:Tuke
Besides Mother's Day,Paper Love has also performed well on other holiday occasions.
According to platform data monitoring,a 3D bouquet pop-up card launched in September 2025 saw explosive growth before Valentine's Day 2026: 7,554 units sold in 7 days, with sales reaching $113,200. As of now, total sales of this card have accumulated to$592,500, and its popularity is still rising.
Image source:kalodata
Currently,the "#ValentinesDay" topic tag on the entire Tuke platform has over 88.5 billion global exposures, with more than21.4 millionrelated short videos.
In such a huge traffic pool, Paper Love can continue to benefit for a very simple reason: starting from genuine emotional needs, they make each greeting card into a social material that people are willing to shoot, share, and post on their social circles.
Image source:Tuke
Greeting cards are no longer useless pieces of paper to be thrown away after writing; they can be hung up as decorations and shared on social platforms. Their premium is naturally much higher than traditional cards, and sometimes even more valuable than many physical gifts.
Sellers in overseas markets all know that for low-frequency, holiday-driven, non-essential products like this, you don't need to compete on price. As long as you leave an unforgettable emotional impression in the consumption or gifting scenario, that's enough.
Image source:Paper Love
Conclusion
Just a small greeting card, a small family brand, managed to leverage such a big market without spending much money.Paper Love invests its premium in design and emotional value, and traffic conversion relies on authentic content on Tuke. Neither step is a big move,butput together, the effectis actually quite impressive.
To be honest,there is never a shortage of demand in overseas markets; what’s lacking is a way to match demand with products. Greeting cards are just a small example. Many categories that seem traditional or even outdated can achieve great results as long as you find a different approach and pair it with suitable content promotion.
In today's overseas market, from holiday gifts to daily cultural and creative products, from3D paper art to customized merchandise, there are hidden opportunities in every niche. Competition is inevitable, but instead of fighting over price and shipping in a red ocean, why not think about whether your product can give consumers a little unexpected surprise in a certain scenario?
