Valentine’s Day is the busiest and potentially most profitable day for any flower shop. So what can you do to make your life a little easier (and make more money!). Here are some tips from Floranext. Let us know your suggestions in the comments section below!
image via google.com
Two Weeks Before Valentine’s Day
- Email marketing – Send out a $5 off coupon to customers. Make sure you pull all the email addresses from your florist POS system
- Codified Arrangements – Make codified or flower specific orders before designer’s choice orders to ensure you can fill orders properly.
- Pre-buy flowers – order roses early from trusted sources. Pre order 1/2 of what you think you need and get the rest as you need it from wholesalers
The Week of Valentine’s Day
- Website Update – update your website prices!
- Pre-Arranging – Hand tie greens for vase drop in, store in waxed boxes and spray with anti desiccant
- Pricing – If possible have a lower price point with 30 or 40 cm roses for cash and cary
- Single Roses – Have many single roses wrapped
- Big sellers – a single wrapped roses with box of candy attached display these in a basket at counter
- Save Money! – Colored roses are always cheaper than red so do something to promote them
- Promote! – Enclose an offer for March in every delivery (offer should be an inexpensive in-store pickup)
- Delivery Manager – nominate one employee as the delivery manager
- Prearrange delivery – route out deliveries you know already.
- Refer to last year – if you sold 800 stems of red roses you will probably need that and few more
- Keep impeccable records – Day of week, weather, staffing, what was ordered, what was not sold, hours open.
The Day Before/On
- Buy lunch – to keep everyone in the shop.
- Roses – when you pre-make roses in a vase before they go out, be sure to change water and also rinse the stems that have been in water.
Florist Techology
- Delivery routing – is standard with florist POS systems now (including Floranext). Try out yours to make sure you know how it works.
- Delivery notification – head off those phone calls from customers by sending out delivery confirmation emails. Your floral POS should have this built in.
After Valentine’s Day
- Appreciation – Give your staff a token of appreciation for their commitment to making Valentine’s Day a success – free flowers to bring home!
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Thank you for all the great advise. As usual it is always a big help and a great reminder of the things that can make our life easier as a florist.
Cindy
Great tips, I’ll use them for my company WeBloom Flowers in Amsterdam.
Thank you for the post.
Does anybody send YOU roses?
I hope so,
Arnold
If you need to hire some extra holiday delivery drivers, consider your local fire dept., police, mailman, taxi drivers — people who know the local streets well, and often know short-cuts and easier ways to map out routes. Also, college students and retirees are often looking for ways to make extra money, part time. — put postings up in senior centers and colleges.
That was a very big help, thanks!
Great tips, thanks. If it can be done in advance, it must be done in advance.
We are looking forward to a good one this year – 1 more designer and 1 more delivery driver than last year which was our biggest ever Valentine’s Day. Two weeks to go and we are ready – bring it on!
Thanks for the reminders, you cannot prepare enough. Keep breathing, manage by walking around, and stay happy, its not about us, its about each and every wonderful customer…
Great tips, another bit of good advice don’t OVER staff, having too many inexperienced people can be harder than not having enough…having to stop what you are doing to help them defeats the purpose, and adds to your stress. all while taking away from the much needed profit and productivity 🙂 Sharing from experience
double check your orders so your vendor/grower/wholesaler will have all the flowers you need and the correct shipping date.
Very informative ideas to plan coming V day Business.
THANKS FOR THE GREAT TIPS !!!
I wish all my collegae a loth of succes !
Great post!
Thank you so much for these great reminders!!! Appreciated!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing. We have to do everything in our power to get people to buy from their local florist. Good luck to everyone this Valentine’s DAy!
Nice Jessica Very informative ideas to plan coming V day Business.
https://valentinedayspecialoffer.blogspot.com
Great tips, I’ll use them on this Valentine’s day
Thanks for the great tips for buying flowers for Valentine’s Day. It’s good to know that colored roses are cheaper than red ones. I normally buy my wife red roses, but maybe I’ll change that up this year.
Thanks for the great post.
Thankyou for the tips. This will help me get organised this year.
Hey,
I agree with you. Valentines day is definitely one of the most biggest day for a florist. You give valid advice and I feel that with small modifications this list would work even for other events like homecoming and mothers day dates. Maybe we could also consider selling some other merchandise besides chocolate as for those who don’t want to bring food for their loved ones.