In Missoula, Montana, a collaboration with a local ice cream parlor has also led to other community partnerships and additional add-on opportunities at Bitterroot Flower Shop.
When Lindsay Irwin of Bitterroot Flower Shop in Missoula, Montana, introduced a new gift option to her customers last Valentine’s Day, she was trying to overcome two challenges that just about every florist faces: The need to increase average transactions and the tricky business of overcoming some customers’ reluctance to spend money on a gift that “doesn’t last.”
Enter, the old-fashioned ice cream cone — or, more accurately, the “Ice Cream Date” a combination of a floral design and ice cream parlor gift card that has proven so popular, Irwin now offers it year-round. The promo has also led to other community partnerships and additional add-on opportunities (kaching!).
The answer, they decided, involved Big Dipper Ice Cream, a beloved, longtime ice cream shop only a block from Bitterroot. The owners of Big Dipper agreed to a trial run, selling Irwin cone gift cards at a slight discount. Today, she can hardly keep the gift cards in stock, and customers are adding them on to all kinds of floral gift options.
Read more about Irwin’s smart, practical partnership and get other easy-to-implement tips for your business in this month’s Floral Management.
