Retailers share tips on how they prepare for Valentine’s Day to ensure smooth operations, happy customers, and a profit.
When the Society of American Florists polled retailers about their December holiday sales, it also asked what lessons they learned to apply to Valentine’s Day. The results are in — and worth sharing! Take a page from these savvy shop owners and managers on how they ensure operations run smoothly, customers are happy, and they emerge from the frenzy with profits in their pocket.
Streamline Operations
When a plan is synchronized across the operation, it can lead to payroll savings and a better experience for everyone. Breen’s Florist in Houston achieves that by focusing more on the production and processing schedule and reducing product offerings. The shop also trains the sales staff to sell what is already pre-made versus a custom arrangement, says general manager Travis Wilson.
Christi Brown, who owns two shops in Florida — Roses Are Red Florist and Violets in Bloom Florist — takes that idea to the next level. Not only does the shop narrow its product offerings for the holiday, but it also introduces them into the lineup in January so that by Valentine’s Day, the staff is very comfortable making and selling those arrangements.
Incentivize Customers
Offering freebies or discounts doesn’t just entice customers to buy — it is also a tool to help florists spread out delivery so they have the capacity to handle custom work and last-minute orders. Holly Itami Springfels of Kern Park Flower Shoppe in Portland, Oregon, is offering free chocolate for ordering early. At Tillie’s Flower Shop in Wichita, Kansas, co-owner Jen Barnard is giving away a card for a free dozen roses that can be redeemed in the summer. “Last year was very successful and hardly anyone redeemed,” she says.
Have a ‘Consumer-Friendly’ Mindset
To appeal to as many customers as possible, Bloomin on Broadway in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, is offering a variety of arrangements with roses such as the classic dozen, an assorted dozen, a colored dozen, a half dozen, and a three-rose vase. The shop will wrap those arrangements, so they are grab-and-go ready, freeing up designers’ time for custom orders, says Vanessa Arbuckle. “We have found out that if our cooler is full, people will just buy what is available instead of waiting for a custom arrangement,” she says. “We are going to make sure we have as much as possible readily available for the walk-in customers.”
Focus on Quality and Value
Jill Stidham of Titus Creek Flower Farm in La Plata, Missouri, knows that as a small, rural retailer she can’t compete with the price of a dozen roses being sold at mass market retail outlets. She’s decided to cut off Valentine’s Day orders early so she can control labor and fresh product costs, as well as quality. “By only accepting pre-orders we’re able to put thought into our designs instead of just slapping together whatever product is available in the cooler,” Stidham says. “All our orders come from the clients we’ve been building relationships with, and they expect unique, higher-end designs.”
Be Resourceful
Still hoarding glassware from the pandemic? Have leftovers from the last holiday? Dust them off and get your cash back! That’s how Susan Jones of Spruce and Ivy in Christiana, Tennessee, is cutting costs for Valentine’s Day. She’s spray-painting leftover Christmas containers and she’ll use festive floral wrap on vases.
Price for Profit
All of these strategies and well-laid plans won’t turn a profit if it isn’t built into design recipes and markups on gifts. Cameron Pappas, AAF, of Norton’s Florist in Birmingham, Alabama, has a background in accounting and stresses this point. “Make sure that you are charging what you need to charge to make a profit,” he says. “Make a spreadsheet and calculate each recipe.” Need help doing that? Check out the 20-minute course, “Creating Recipes for Success,” in SAF’s Floral Education Hub. The course is free for SAF members and $14.95 for non-members.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the managing editor of SAF News Now.
