Florist Guide – Planning For The Year
January 3rd, 2024 Posted by Idalina Bertone Blog, events, Florist Marketing, Florist Operations, Florist Point of Sale, Florist POS, Florist Profits, Florist Resources, florist technology, Florist Websites, florist-software, Mother's Day, Opening a Flower Shop, Search Engine Optimization, seo, Valentine's Day, weddings 2 thoughts on “Florist Guide – Planning For The Year”The floral industry is a dynamic business, always a step ahead, aligning with seasons and holidays.
For florists, strategic planning throughout the year is essential for success. While seasoned florists might be adept at yearly planning, having a structured guide can streamline organizational efforts. In this comprehensive blog, we present an easy-to-follow roadmap for effective floral yearly planning.
January: Preparing the Groundwork
January often starts slow in the floral industry, but it’s a month teeming with opportunities. Use this time for flower shop organization and marketing planning:
Start a Blog: Boost your SEO by initiating a ‘how-to’ blog, enhancing your online visibility and social media engagement.
Tip: “How to” blogs are the most searched, so anything with tips and tricks will be well received.
Review Valentine’s Sales: Plan and order Valentine’s Day flowers early, without overordering. Pay attention to add-on items like plush toys and chocolates to boost profits.
Tip: If this is your first Valentine’s Day, do not over-order, this may be tricky, but set up a set amount you will order and see how your sales go. You can always get more in a pinch.
Decorate Store & Website: Create dazzling Valentine’s displays in-store and optimize your eCommerce platform for early sales.
Sign up for Wedding Sites: Expand your reach by signing up for renowned wedding sites to promote your wedding floral business. A few you should consider are The Knot, Zola, Wedding Wire, and My Wedding.
February: Preparing for Valentine’s Rush
Gear up for the Valentine’s Day rush by ensuring smooth operations:
Employee Management: Go over all employee scheduling and duties in the first week of February. Make sure you have hired all your new holiday help and that everyone understands their tasks for Valentine’s Day.
Tip: Good time to also rent extra delivery vans if needed.
Promotions: Offer pre-Valentine’s day delivery promotions. The idea here is to spread the wealth of this Valentine’s Day and not be constricted to just delivering on February 14. Offer generous promotions on your flower shop website, post on social media, and of course, make sure they expire a few days before Valentines’.
Take care of yourself: During this busy month, it is important to rest and take time for yourself. Encourage your employees to do the same and wear comfortable clothes, and comfy shoes, and eat please, it’s amazing how many florists do not eat when they are busy. Being organized will alleviate most of the Valentine’s Day pressure, so make sure to be well-nourished and comfortable.
Tip: Start a flower shop with a holiday diary. We know sounds corny, however, it’s amazing what can be learned from holidays by just writing it down. Yes, you have your gross receipts, but how about mishaps, or comical happenings that are not noted, these are all so important and good read before the holidays.
March: Welcoming Spring and Renewal
March can be the most rewarding month in the floral industry, it gives florist time to relax and get ready for new beginnings with the coming of spring.
- Finance Review: With the first quarter almost through, now is a good time to get a grasp on your profit and loss for January and February. Add notes about what you may do differently next year, a good thing if you have started the flower shop diary.
- Spring Cleaning: The #1 season that is most anticipated by customers is spring, especially if you live in the colder weathered areas, it is never too early to start bringing out this season. Start refreshing your flower shop and get ready for spring with beautiful decor and showcasing.
- March Sales Madness: As florists, we know March can be hit or miss with sales, so start a campaign and sell your products customers love, try a Free with-purchase or half-off sales. make this a yearly ritual if this works for your business.
- Order your Easter flowers & plants! It’s always good to get ahead and start an order for your easter flowers and plants. Again ordering early equals savings from your suppliers and you also have the best selections.
April: Preparing for Mother’s Day
Ready or not Mother’s Day will be here before you know it! Take April as a month to prepare for the #1 florist holiday.
Order Mother’s Flowers & Supplies: Make sure to order those beautiful containers and Mother’s Day flowers with your supplier. The good time to order is early April.
Showcase your plants: If you are selling plants, now is a good time to showcase your flowering plants, this creates a welcoming inviting atmosphere for customers. If you can move some outdoors, this is great for some curb appeal.
Promotions & Marketing: We recommend you start promoting after Easter to generate some early bird sales for Mother’s Day. Post on your social media and website, this will help boost your SEO. A great marketing tip is to offer a giveaway, maybe a gift basket, or free flowers for a few months, and have customers fill out their information when they make a purchase.
Employee Management: It’s that time again to make sure to hire the extra help you will need for Mother’s Day. Make sure all current employees understand their schedule and duties.
Tip: If you are new to the floral industry, then a good-to-know tip is that Mother’s Day is the #1 floral business holiday, customers order throughout the week rather than one day. Be prepared with help, lots of flowers, and beautiful containers.
May: Embrace the Flower-Selling Month
May, what a great month for the floral industry! With one of the top-selling holidays, this month starts slow and quickly picks up in a super-charged way, so always good to be ready.
Take a look around: Do a glance, does your flower shop look appealing to you? Make sure you use a critical eye and take it all in, the sound and if possible even the way it smells. Customers are drawn to a beautiful environment, it has proven to make them feel relaxed and comfortable, which will help increase those sales!
Employee training: The first week of May is a good time to discuss employee customer service, the cross-selling, and the up-selling of products. Make sure your employees are polite and offer customers upgrades and add-ons with their purchases. This is an easy way to almost triple your profits.
Offer prom promotions: Proms are a way to make sales. Build relationships with future long-time patrons. Offer a referral discount.
Examine your finances: After the Mother’s Day rush now is a good time to sit down and see whether or not you made a profit, be sure to calculate all costs and include any spoilage or waste. Keep notes on what you would do differently next year.
June: Peak Wedding Season and Graduations
Oh June, what a lovely month! For some, the commencement of summer and a chance to organize all your floral business needs. June is the most popular month for weddings with September and October in a close 2nd. Florists are pleasantly surprised at how busy June can get with weddings and graduations.
Refresh your floral website: Update your flower shop for some summer specials, and make sure you’re wedding galleries are up to date with great content and keywords.
Offer promotions: Teacher gifts and graduation promotions are a great way to bring traffic into your flower shop. Be sure to post these on your floral website and social media.
Order retail products: This is a great time to order some fresh new stock to get customers to flock to your flower shop. There is nothing you cannot sell, so think outside the box, What is popular? Candles (certain brands), skin care, plush, home decor, makeup, and even unique greeting cards. Brand your flower shop!
July: Organizational Month
We like to call July, “a month of organization.” This month can be on the slower side, so it’s very important to get your flower shop in order with beautiful displays and heavy on marketing.
Write a blog: We know this is listed in other months above, however, July can be a slower month. If you have time to write a How To Blog, or anything that inspires you, think about things you search for, read, and watch as your SEO skyrockets through the roof.
Social media: Take some time to focus and revamping your social media communities. Add content and images and don’t forget the hashtags #, Again all this for top placement in Social Media.
Tidy up your flower shop: By tidy up we mean clean, scrub, wash, organize, label, etc. Freshen up your floral space!
Browse your floral supply stores: July is a great month to look at products in your floral supply store, you can find great deals on holiday items, it is a great time to stock up.
August: Innovative Marketing Strategies
August can be one of the slowest months in the floral industry. we ask that if you are slow, to try implementing new ways to market in your flower shop.
Newsletter: Email, mail, or both! Send out a newsletter to your customers offering special savings.
Start a workshop or floral party! Get busy with hosting a floral workshop, kids’ floral birthday parties, and much more. This can lead to great profits and new patrons at your flower shop.
Start preparing for fall! Get your flower shop ready for the most popular season, create beautiful displays, order new inventory, and go for it! We recommend doing this the second to the last week of August. Don’t forget your fall marketing!
September: Prepping for Fall Sales
Flowers sales in September pick up rapidly towards the middle of the month. Customers are now back to their normal routines with the kids back in school and weddings are starting to pick up.
Order fall flowers and Plants: Stock up on your seasonal flowers & plants.
Revamp your floral website: Add the season touch to your floral website with fresh new content and images. Use proper keywords, specific to the floral industry for SEO advantage.
Launch and Adwords Campaign: If your budget allows, try launching an Adwords campaign for more clicks to your eCommerce store. Be sure to set a budget and stick to it as this can get expensive. adwords.google.com
Keep up with your blog: Now that you are a pro, how about writing a seasonal blog or fall wedding blog? We cannot say this enough, blogs are so powerful with SEO.
Note: For Canadian florists, September is a good time to start ordering flowers and supplies for Thanksgiving.
October: Holiday Preparations Begin
October offers some great sales in the flower shop business, now is a good time to start orders on any extra stock supplies and get them at a discount for future use.
Prepare for the holidays: The holidays are just around the corner, shop around for the best deals on all your flowers, and supplies for the holidays. Also, shop around for holiday products to sell at your shop.
Employee Management: Go over your employee scheduling and see if you will need extra help for the holiday season.
Open House: Host a holiday open house showing off your latest products and floral designs.
Floral Expo: Take some time to visit a flower expo in your area, and take your employees, this is a good way to stay current with the new trends, and first dibs on new products.
Note: October is a very popular wedding month with most wedding proposals in December. Think of launching a Wedding Package special on your website during this month.
November: Festive Season Begins
Tis the season for flower sales, November all in all is a great month for flower sales. Customers are getting into the giving mood.
Market the holidays! Add promotions to your floral website and do not forget about your social media!
Start greening: Green those Thanksgiving centerpieces ahead of time, add any taper or candles and put them in the cooler for a quick way to add flowers as a sales role for Thanksgiving.
Decorate for the holidays: Time for Christmas cheer, create eye-appealing displays, and make sure your flower shop is festive. If you can make a beautiful Christmas window display or storefront display to bring in curious shoppers.
Offer incentives: Offer black Friday or Small Business Saturday deals, “buy ones get ones” are great offers, even if it’s just a couple of hours that day. Having a great deal with a cut-off time is a good way of creating hype and traffic in your flower shop.
Tip: Do not forget to revamp your eCommerce for Christmas and update your social media
December: Christmas Rush and Business Boom
Many florists around the world enjoy huge flower sales during the Christmas holiday. Although in some parts of the United States, florists have seen a decline in their floral sales during Christmas, this month is quickly picking up and still trailing as the third-best month for floral retail sales.
Employee management: Set exceptions for your employees on selling upgrades and add-ons for each customer’s order. Review scheduling and days you are closed.
Christmas Greens: As mentioned above, it is also a good idea to green your arrangements ahead of time for Christmas. Take time to do this early before the holiday rush.
Offer Discounts: Sometimes offering a discount too early for Christmas can become forgetful to customers who may not be ready. Post Christmas discounts during this month and make sure to have an expiration time or date. Great discounts are gifts for parents, teachers, corporate and the person, who has everything. Flowers remain the perfect gift.
Tip: Do not forget to market to businesses. holiday parties are huge, so offer incentives to have them book with you for their flower needs.
Mastering yearly planning as a florist involves meticulous organization, marketing finesse, and adaptability to seasonal demands. With a well-structured plan, you can navigate through each month successfully, maximizing sales opportunities and enhancing customer experiences. Cheers to a flourishing and blooming year ahead in the floral business!
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