SAF December Holidays and Valentine’s Day Intentions 2018 Survey. Emailed Jan. 4, 2018. 8.3 percent response rate.
A mid-week holiday and a strong economy bode well for Valentine’s Day 2018. (Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates!)
According to a recent Society of American Florists’ survey, about 67 percent of florists predict an increase in Valentine’s Day sales this year, when the holiday falls on a Wednesday, compared to last year, when sweethearts celebrated on a Tuesday.
Thirty percent of respondents expect 2018 returns to be about on par with those in 2017.
Among the popular messages and techniques florists plan to incorporate into their Valentine’s Day promotions: flowers are a surprise for your sweetheart at work (72 percent); flowers make people happy, as proven by research (52 percent); and flowers are affordable luxuries (33 percent).
About 24 percent of respondents also plan to promote flowers with special deals and offers, 16 percent said they’ll play up the fact that flowers go well with romantic dinners and weekends away an 7 percent said they’ll position Valentine’s Day flowers as a “green alternative” for the holiday.
SAF December Holidays and Valentine’s Day Intentions 2018 Survey. Emailed Jan. 4, 2018. 8.3 percent response rate.
Respondents plan to charge on average about $67 for a dozen, unarranged long-stemmed roses and $84 for a dozen, arranged long-stemmed roses.
Last year, in a post-holiday SAF survey, respondents reported charging on average about $66 for a dozen, unarranged long-stemmed roses and $85 for a dozen, arranged, long-stemmed roses. Both numbers are in line with 2016 results, when florists reported charging $83 for arranged versions and $65 for unarranged.
About 60 percent of respondents said they’re pre-booking roughly the same amount of fresh product, compare to last year. Around 30 percent said they’ll pre-book more fresh product.
SAF December Holidays and Valentine’s Day Intentions 2018 Survey. Emailed Jan. 4, 2018. 8.3 percent response rate.
Forty-five percent of florists said they’ll offer incentives (discounts, free items, add-ons, upgrades and priority services) for early delivery. About 46 percent said they’ll do the same for early ordering. Eighteen percent said they’ll incentivize “likes” on Facebook or other social media acknowledgements.
As for supply issues, leatherleaf will be in short supply. A coalition of growers in Florida came together late last year to get the word out to industry members about the shortage, which stem from a devastating round of hurricanes, cold temperatures and labor shortages.
Last year, about 88 percent of respondents to the SAF post-holiday survey experienced an increase in Valentine’s Day sales, compared to 2016, when the holiday fell on a challenging date, the Sunday of a long weekend. Those results were fairly consistent across business size, with respondents who have $1 million-plus in sales even more likely to report an increase (96 percent).
