If you work floral retail this holiday, you may already feel drained by all your duties at work and at home.

It’s common consensus among florists that flower shops aren’t as busy during the holiday season, and with Christmas right around the corner, florists can put their feet up and relax for a few days.

Of course, this is the furthest thing from the truth: flower shop owners are reporting this as their busiest holiday season ever, although perhaps not comparable to Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day week, the fact remains that floral professionals feel an enormous amount of pressure to sell on top of also working through their holiday checklist at home.

Flowers still beat all other gift options as the perfect gift, and florists deserve recognition for doing an amazing job creating memories for recipients of your floral masterpieces, which is why during this festive season, we thought it would be fun to list some easy ways to relax and relieve tension in your flower shop.

Indulge In Some Scrumptious Treats

Arrange to have some tasty goodies, coffee, or mocha to enjoy with your coworkers. Chocolate is well known as a stress reliever, but this gesture also promotes unity and employees’ well-being. If budget allows, extend the offer of tasty sweets and beverages to your patrons to create a soothing environment for all.

Be Jolly With Care

With a hectic schedule, time for beautification is in short supply, but there’s no better confidence booster. We encourage you to put your duties aside for a few extra minutes to primp yourself before starting the work day. This is especially important for all receiving customers in the flower shop.

Pamper Your Feet

We want you to take time to groom and pamper yourself, but you can leave those high trendy shoes in the closet. The recommendation here is comfortable shoes. Many floral workers spend all day on their feet, and the wrong shoes will drain your festive enthusiasm and make work nothing short of miserable. Wearing comfortable, no-skid shoes will help you feel energetic and alleviate foot, back and neck pain.

Stay Hydrated

We all know how important water is for flowers—well, it is equally important for us as well. Take time to drink plenty of water. Do not wait until you feel thirsty, by then you have already started to dehydrate. Keep a water bottle at hand, especially during this holiday season.

The benefits of water-

• Flushes toxins out of your system
• Improves cognition and brain function
• Gives you increased energy
• Helps stave off fatigue
• Keeps your skin gleaming
• Perks up your immune system
• Fights headaches
• Enhances mood
• Helps you lose weight (especially after indulging in those scrumptious treats!)

Take A Break

Even when things are at their most hectic in the coming days, allow yourself to take a break. Besides your lunch break, taking a few short, five-minute breaks a day to regroup is very healthy. Take time to eat your three meals and never skimp on your breaks.

Florists, do you have a tip on keeping a healthy balance during the busy holiday season for floral professionals? Please share your feedback in the comment section below.

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Floranext offers great florist software, florist POS, florist websites and florist wedding proposal software. Our florist technology products are built by florists, for florists. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Wedding bloom trends for 2018 are certainly something to get excited about!

Pack up your mason jars, chalkboards, floral crowns and the word “rustic” and let’s move on to the new floral trends that are emerging. Floral experts predict a lavish blooming wedding year for 2018 with more creativity and an abundance of romantic influences.

1. Be Green With Greenery

Ah, greens! We have loved the burgeoning use of greens for several years. Greens complement florals, and are so much more than simple filler in a bouquet. Just wait and see what role greens play in 2018, when they take the lead in wedding floral bouquets, with a variety of texture and woodsy design.

The greens you use make a difference. Try some of these trending greens:

• Sage
• Boston Fern
• Hops
• Dieffenbachia
• Lambs Ear
• Eucalyptus
• Seeded Eucalyptus
• Lemonleaf
• Lether Fern
• Philodendron
• Italian Ruscus

2. Hanging Florals & Swings

2018 will be all about the “wow” factor and a fairytale romantic atmosphere. Flower walls are on their way out, and lavish hanging floral displays above table settings and blooming hanging swings will make for the perfect photo backdrop.

3. Navy Is The New Black

Forget all you know about the classic formality of the traditional black and white wedding. In the upcoming year, navy will make a name for itself as it edges out black in wedding decor and florals. Although we understand there are really not many navy florals, think of incorporating deep blue and navy ribbons, jewelry, and accent pieces.

4. Floral Wreaths

Think of floral hoop wreaths—2018 is coming on strong with this trend and we love it. An asymmetric wreathe can help create that oh-so-amazing look. Another big hit is using smaller hoop wreaths which are taking the place of bridal bouquets with this spin on the bridal/flower girl bouquet.

5. Be One With Woodsy

Although you may think there is not much difference between Rustic and Woodsy, and rustic weddings are now becoming a thing of the past. The focus is woodsy wedding themes for 2018. The term woodsy is more starry-eyed, lovey-dovey and enchanting. With the use of natural accents of wood, beautiful greens and branches, wedding guests can reminisce of a forest with beautiful textures that create a desirable look and feel.

6. Blooms In Mauve Is All

The perfect complement to the deep rich blues of 2018 wedding trend is flowers in mauve. Although 2018 predicts bolder colors and soft pinks staying on trend, the color to keep an eye out for in the year to come is mauve. Mauve is the perfect backdrop to the woodsy theme, and we recommend stocking up on mauve roses not just for weddings but for every day arrangements as well.

Florists, are there any wedding blooms that you see trending already for 2018? Please share any essential wedding flower trend for 2018 that you feel every florist should utilize.

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Every season Floranext releases some new florist website designs. Take a look at our new Christmas and Winter florist website banner designs – just in time for the holidays!

Floranext e-commerce website customers can access these (without the watermark!) in their admin by going to Website > Design > Banners

Make sure to update your website today! 

Good luck with your flower shop ecommerce sales! Happy Holidays from the Floranext team to you and your families! 

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Floranext is excited to introduce some great new florist website themes with great new features. Improved design tools, image galleries, designer’s choice products, and local search engine optimization.

For Floranext customers you can get instructions on our new themes here. 

Boundless Theme

Elegant, modern, responsive florist website design.

Perfect for everyday flower shops, boutiques, or wedding/event focused.

Easily add or remove header items like address, search, social medial

Venture Theme

Dynamic left nav – allows you to highlight most important florist website categories or timely special occasions.

Boundless Noir Theme

Stylish black background gives contrast to colorful floral photos.

Front Page Blocks

Add florist website image blocks below your banner for links to pages like weddings, holidays, and important categories.

Upload your own design blocks or use our designs.

Wedding/Event Floral Image Galleries

Create beautiful galleries of your wedding/event floral work in seconds.

Users easily scroll through your beautiful designs

Full-screen scrolling for enhanced image detail.

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Create Gallery – of your wedding/events, upload high-quality images

Full Screen Gallery – showcase images at full screen for maximum impact

Request a Consultation button – easily turn browsers into clients

Designer’s Choice

Let customers tell you the basics, you get the freedom to do the creative work.

Multi-Language for Your Florist Website

Use Google Translate to convert your floral website over 100 languages!

Accent Colors

Easily change your florist website accent colors.

Changes nav bar, rollover, and button colors.

Accent colors show on your florist website.

Look forward to some great improvements to our Point of Sale and Proposal Manager in the coming weeks as well!

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Floranext is excited to launch two new florist website themes and some innovative florist Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools!

These tips are most helpful for Floranext customers BUT non-Floranext customers can take advantage of the SEO tips if their website providers support! 

New Florist Website Designs

• Accent Colors – choose colors for theme, switch up accent colors for holidays, seasons
• Header and Footer Chooser – choose what information to include in header, footer
• Testimonial Page Builder – easily add testimonials from customers
• Partner Page Builder – create links to local partners for mutual SEO benefit

Local Florist SEO Tools

Our flower delivery location pages allow you to create specific pages for the places you deliver to frequently, giving a boost to your local florist SEO.

• City/Town Pages – highlight cities and towns you deliver to
• Funeral Home Pages – showcase funeral homes where you deliver funeral flowers
• Hospital Pages – create hospital pages where you deliver get well, new baby flowers
• Event Location Pages – showcase your floral event portfolio for specific wedding/event locations

Find these new options in Admin > Website > Content > Local Pages

Florist SEO – Content Pages

• Testimonial Pages – create pages with customer testimonials
• Partner Pages – link to your local partners (wedding photographers, bakeries, etc.) – have them link back for SEO benefit

Find these new options under Admin > Website > Content > Pages

Florist Websites – Photo Galleries

Create beautiful image galleries to showcase your wedding, event, and everyday floral designs.

Find this on any content page under Website > Content > Pages – Add Photo Gallery 

Florist Themes – More Screenshots

Change accent colors – these update header, footer and some on page elements.

We hope you like our new florist website improvements. At Floranext we are innovating to help flower shops succeed online and offline. Have good ideas for us – let us know!

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here!

Want to sell more wedding flowers? Does your flower shop do enough wedding business? Here are 6 ideas!

1. Stay Current with Wedding Trends

Make sure you are up-to-date on the latest trends for modern brides!

Keep Your Website Up-To-Date With Seasonal Trends: Your website should reflect the popular wedding themes, colors, and flowers that potential wedding clients are looking for.

Offer A Wide Variety Of Arrangements: Provide different styles for different types of weddings. A bride with a fairytale theme will need different floral arrangements than a bride who wants a rustic or vintage wedding, and your flower shop should have options for all of them.

2. Share Wedding Flowers Photos on Social Media

Modern brides are using websites like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram to get inspired and find wedding florists. Use social media to promote your wedding business and gain more clients!

Let Your Bridal Customers Share Your Photos: Post photos of your work for a recent wedding on Facebook or Instagram, and have your client like their pictures and share them on their timeline. If their friends are looking for a wedding florist, your arrangements will be the first thing on their minds!

3. Create Flawless Wedding Proposals

A well-rounded flower proposal is the final step in securing a client!

Be Specific: Describe the flowers, design, and price of your arrangements in detail. Give brides enough information in your proposal to decide what services they want to pay for.

Use Wedding Proposal Software: Florist technology, like Floranext’s wedding/event manager, can help you create and share beautiful proposals in minutes.

4. Get A Wedding-Ready Florist Website

Your online portfolio is the most important part of your website. These tips will help prospective clients see your work and sign up for a consultation!

Set Up Vendor Pages: Most wedding websites have vendor sections where brides can find local wedding services. Set up a vendor page with your portfolio, contact information, and a link to your florist website to get more organic traffic.

Consider Starting A Separate Wedding Website: Although a wedding website may divert traffic and SEO from your main florist website, it will also have greater impact and a portfolio that is tailored to brides and wedding planners.

If you do this, all your links off of Google for Business, Yelp, etc. should link to your main website while links off of bridal websites should link to your wedding-specific site.

5. Innovative Bridal Show Presentations

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By becoming an exhibitor, you will instantly have access to hundreds of potential wedding clients!

Bring Your A Game: Create an amazing display, attractive marketing materials, and a digital portfolio on an iPad to share with prospective clients.

Pick The Best Spot: Choose a location near the main aisles to take advantage of high traffic.

Gather Leads: Create a contact list, and follow up with each prospect after the show to schedule a consultation.

6. Smarter Online Marketing

More and more couples are using the internet to find local wedding florists. Online marketing can help your flower shop stand out from the competition!

Advertise On Wedding Websites: Bridal websites like The Knot and Wedding Wire offer free and/or paid adverting space for wedding vendors. Add your flower shop to their website, and make sure to include your portfolio.

Use Local Florist SEO: The content on your florist website determines your ranking in popular search engines. Make sure your florist website features pages devoted to popular wedding venues in your local area and relevant keywords that are important to your local audience.

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here!

Whether you’ve been dreaming of starting a flower shop for years or you’re exploring a new passion for the floral industry, here are some good reasons to open a flower shop.

Make no mistake, starting a flower business is hard work and takes lots of energy. If you are 100% new to the floral industry, intern at a flower shop for six months so that you can get your feet wet and understand the business.

But if you are an adventure-seeking, people-pleasing, creative soul with floral experience, read on!

Why Should I Start A Flower Shop?

Reason #1: Your customers will love you!

Your community is filled with people who need your services. By opening a flower shop, you can help them celebrate the major milestones of their lives.

Popular Occasions For Buying Flowers

Love & Romance: Valentine’s Day isn’t the only time you’ll create floral arrangements for loved ones. As a flower shop owner, you’ll sell arrangements for dates, engagements, weddings, anniversaries.

Thank You: Your customers will request flowers after job interviews, fundraisers, and challenging times.

Sympathy: From short term illness to family funerals, you can make a difference in the lives of grieving customers.

Commemorative: Flowers add a beautiful touch to customer celebrations. Your flower shop could provide arrangements for Sweet Sixteens, Bar Mitzvahs, Prom, as well as major holidays.

Reason #2: You’ll get your creative juices flowing!

As a flower shop owner, you will constantly be in the process of creating something new.

Creative Decisions For Flower Shop Owners

Floral Design: Whether you hire a floral designer or put on your creative hat, your flower shop will need beautiful arrangements to sell to potential customers.

Marketing: Your business will offer brochures, banners, mailers, and an excellent florist website to reach the people in your community.

image via google.com

Reason #3: You can (probably) afford it!

Starting a floral business will require capital and good management, but it’s not nearly on the scale or starting a restaurant or many other retail businesses.

Financial Concerns When Starting A Flower Shop

Materials: Your supplies, florist POS system, and store front will cost less than larger businesses.

Equipment: Your flower shop will only need a few key pieces of equipment. Shop around for the best refrigerated cases, displays, and cutting systems.

Financing: Unlike a restaurant, you don’t need a large amount of money to get started. Many successful flower shops were started with personal savings and small business loans.

image via google.com

Reason #4: You can start out slow!

You can start an event only business to get a feel for the kind of work involved before committing to a storefront.  By concentrating on one aspect of the floral industry, you can start your business with less effort and more convenience than a full service flower shop.

Business Opportunities For Flower Shop Owners

Online: Event businesses can build a presence and a following using social media and online advertising.

Events: Customers need flowers for weddings, birthdays, and fundraisers. By providing floral arrangements for events, you can capitalize on their large orders and regular business.

Reason #5: You may not find a better time to get started!

This might the perfect time to start a flower shop, and here’s why:

Freedom: As an entrepreneur, you control the direction and scale of your business. You will always have a boss (the customer) but you will have more control over your life!

Committed Customer Base:  Your flower shop can fill orders for customers as they walk through the various seasons of their lives.

Plenty of Opportunity: Your potential as a flower shop owner is still a big one. You can serve multimillion dollar clients from a storefront in Manhattan Beach or local residents at a kiosk in your town plaza – the opportunities for building your customer base are there.

Looking for more info on Starting a Flower Business? Read our blog post Opening a Flower Shop – What I Wish I Knew!

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here!

Is your flower shop suffering from the ‘after Valentine’s Day’ blues? Don’t let seasonal fluctuations impact your business. Follow these tips to attract customers after Valentine’s Day and boost your revenue!

Cures for the Post-Valentines Day Flower Shop Blues

Redecorate

This is the perfect time to get your shop in order! Take down the Valentine’s Day decorations and brighten up the shop for Spring.

• Do Spring Cleaning – Go through your shop and organize your displays, files, and promotional items
• Change Your Window Display – Arrange your display for the upcoming season
• Create Seasonal Floral Arrangements – Add new bouquets to your website and marketing materials

Have A Sale

Get rid of extra Valentine’s Day products! Hold a sale in March with discounted bouquets and chocolates to increase revenue.

• Be Specific – Let customers know exactly what is on sale and how much your discount is (30% Off All Valentine’s Day Arrangements)
• Bundle Your Products – Create discount packages of candy and floral arrangements to sell more items
• Post It Online – Use florist technology to promote your sale online

image via google.com

Increase Marketing

Step up your marketing efforts to bring in new business!

• Grow Your Online Presence – Use social media, email, and online advertisements to draw attention to your florist website
• Start Blogging – A blog can improve your florist website and help you connect with your customer base
• Send Out Mailers – Send mail to Christmas and Valentine’s Day customers to gain repeat business

Start Something New

Offer new products and services to boost your seasonal income!

• Light A Flame – Add scented candles to your product displays and sell them to customers
• Don’t Forget About Easter – Stock your shop with floral displays, chocolate bunnies, and peeps for the Easter season

Reach Out to Your Community

You have thousands of potential customers right outside your door!

• Hold A Contest – Start a raffle and offer free services to community members who enter
• Send Flowers To Your TV Station – Send a beautiful arrangement and marketing materials to get your business featured on the local news
• Work With Nonprofits – Donated services can transform charity events and help you promote your business

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here!

What is the easiest way to increase your flower shop profits? Getting new customers isn’t always easy – but selling more to those that walk in the door doesn’t cost a penny.

Florists can commonly enjoy sales increases of 20% or more when they start upselling. How can you do it – and how can you get your employees to come along for the ride?

image via shutterstock.com

Keys to flower shop upselling

The best part of upselling is that it’s practically effortless. The customer has already decided on purchasing from you so the hardest part of the sales conversation is completed. You already have a connection with them and have identified and solved their current needs.

Here are four points to remember when florist upselling:

1. Connect with Customer – By Collecting Information: Find out as much as possible about why your customer is purchasing their flowers and bring up additional product that might not have thought of on their own. They will appreciate it. Express genuine emotion about birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
2. Wait until the sale is over: Upselling occurs after the customer has already decided to buy something. If you try and upsell before that, it looks pushy. But afterwards, it should look like great customer service.
3. Make the upsell affordable: As a general rule, upsold products should not increase the purchase total by more than 25 percent. That is why it is easy to add-on a $1.00 drink to your $2.00 hamburger order
4. Upsell with a purpose: Don’t just try to get rid of last year’s plush animals with every flower design, customers will see right through that. Always upsell items and services that match your customer’s floral purchase and needs.

image via shutterstock.com

Upselling 101 – How to Train Flower Shop Employees to Upsell! 

As the floral owner, your task is to transform your staff from order-takers to order enhancers. To do this, you need to build their sales skills one step at a time. You will want

1. Attitude – Start by emphasizing that it’s the attitude of helping or making your customer the winner that’s all-important.
2. Process – Prepare in writing your complete up-sell procedures. Remember to put together upsells that make sense.
3. Live Training – Spend a quiet afternoon doing live training with employees to give them a feel for how to sell.

Flower Shop Employee – Live Training

Live training is the way to make sure your employees understand the importance and how to upsell. Take a quiet afternoon and walk through different scenarios with employees:

• Scenario 1: Birthday flowers – mother buying flowers for teenage daughter
• Scenario 2: Wedding consultation – bride and mother visiting for final consultation
• Scenario 3: Anniversary flowers –  husband buying for wife of 25 years
• Scenario 4: Thank You flowers – secretary sending flowers to business associate

Make it fun! Have the store owner play the customer. Have other employees or friends listen in and give letter grade(A, B, C, etc.) to an employee on the following:

• Grade 1 – Connection with Customer – did the employee understand and connect emotionally to the customer?
• Grade 2 – Upsell timing – did the upsell come in at the right time in the conversation?
• Grade 3 – Upsell offer – was it an appropriate upsell offer, did it seem natural?

Example Flower Shop Upsells

• Have offers ready that upgrade their flower purchase like “for an additional amount we can add 30% more flowers to the design” or “for $$$, we can add a few more upscale flowers to enhance the arrangement.”
• Mention the addition of a complimentary product to any flower design. For a birthday, a stuffed animal, balloon or decorative candle or product should be highlighted. For a wedding, an additional throw-away bouquet or flowers for the Godparents perhaps.
• Initiate a flower arrangement subscription plan for customers who send arrangements regularly. This plan will send an arrangement each month for a set number of months for a certain cost. This is a great way to increase service to your customer and your bottom line with monthly guaranteed sales.

Practice the upsell procedures first before you give them to the staff. Have a meeting with your staff to go over the upsell procedure. Brainstorm with your sales staff the best way to enhance your florist customer’s experience. Do mock upselling interactions with each salesperson.

Have the staff watch you talk with and help flower shop customers first. Demonstrating what you expect each to do with each customer.

image via shutterstock.com

Watch your staff in action. Listen to them work with the customers in-person and on the phone. Find something they’re doing well, and then build from there. Never ever let them down-sell. Never should a staff member say “are you sure you want to spend that much?” “Use this flower instead of that because it is cheaper and will cost you less.” The customer has come to you for your flower expertise; never downgrade your services or product!

Last Thoughts on Flower Shop Upselling and Increasing Profits

Everyone in your flower shop should be taught and expected to upsell. Upselling can spell the difference between “just getting by” and having a profitable year. Still have some doubters of the importance of upselling? Test it out 100 times and tally the results. It should stop the nay-sayers

Upselling is not only for in-person or phone selling. Are you upselling on your floral website? You should be offering add-ons to all orders like chocolates, plush animals, etc. It’s a no-brainer!

It’s now time to take upselling to your shop! You ready? You have nowhere to go but up!

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Other Florist Profit-Related Articles

• Top 10 Ways to Make a Profit Owning a Flower Shop
• 5 Ways to Get People Into Your Flower Shop
• Opening a Flower Shop – What I Wish I Knew!

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here!