“Holidays Changing? You Bet …”

Change is happening all around us. Technology is making our world closer and closer and faster and faster. What use to take weeks now takes days and what took days is now done in hours or minutes. Is this a bad or a good thing you ask yourself? Well, the answer is both.

The florist industry is quickly advancing as well. For the retail florist, many of the past opportunities for sending flowers have been reduced but not eliminated. Funeral flowers have changed to sympathy expressions, hospital flowers are now get-well flowers and silk arrangements are now permanent botanical.

Floral holiday buying habits have also changed dramatically over the last few years. We often hear that Easter is not what it use to be. No one is wearing corsages any more, etc, etc. While this is true, that does not eliminate the opportunity for a floral sale. The same can be said about Mothers Day floral expressions. While we may not be doing the same designs or presentations, the savvy retailer can still make these holidays profitable!

One of the biggest advantages that a retail florist has over on-line buying opportunities is the response time within a day. While overnight shipping is available on many items, the cost factor is often a barrier. What this means to the retail florist is that holiday sales are still there, they just seem to be breaking later and later. Where once upon a time, customers use to put there orders in early to allow the florist time to secure the product and execute the floral design. Now in the days of instant gratification, customers expectations are higher and it is the NOW and WOW factor that must be delivered!

Take a few minutes to plan your up coming holiday floral selections and contact your Account Manager for some input on what will be the best selections for making your holidays a success!

By Tom Bowling AIFD PFCI exclusively for Florabundance, Inc.