7 Answers
We have done 40 years worth of Valentine's Day at O'Shea's Flowers. The key is to be over-prepared. Here are a few things we do:
Pre-Book Only Half Your Rose Order - The market tends to soften as we get close to Valentine's Day, so you can save money ordering your roses in the last 3 days before Valentine's Day. (Caveat: Unless you're in a market that isn't supported many wholesale markets.)
Pre-Work - Do as much of the arrangement prep work as possible before the holiday. For example, make and store tied greens for rose and flower vases, spray with preservative and pack in wax boxes for longevity - can be done up to 1 month ahead of time.
Contract Drivers - Contract drivers don't have minimum number of hours by law, so if you are able to line up many drivers, you have flexibility in the case of an unexpectedly large number of orders.
Email Marketing - Highest traffic to our website was on the 10th and 13th. Your email marketing should be targeted at the days before these (i.e. the 9th and the 12th). Consider offering an eamil campaign with a discount for those buying very early (e.g. 1st of Feb).
Comments
My moto on VDay is Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance! I have already pre-booked my flowers, containers are here, plush, balloons, and candy are here. I will have all of each days orders complete by the day before. The cooler will be stocked full for cash and carry. Extra help is set. Now, I am just hoping the plan goes as planned!
From Tina Roberts @ Sparrows Nest Flower Shop in Neptune NJ (via Facebook)
My plan for this VD is to buy less...I've gotten stuck with 25% of my red roses the last few years. My wholesaler last year said VD Monday was going to be huge...got stuck. Previous years..got stuck. I am hoping for a great day...pre-booked my reds already. I am surrounded by food stores, Costco & Wal-mart. I am already encouraging my loyal customers to order early b/c I am planning to run out. Also FB fans will get a bakers dozen if they order early.
We have been sending out a discount coupon on every order since Jan 15th offering a discount if orders are placed by Feb 5th. We make the coupons ourselves using Microsoft Word on a regular 8 1/2 piece of paper.
Premake all Roses and floral arrangments in different price points b4 Sunday. Also, make all special orders b4 sunday as well. On Monday (besides answering phones and looking at the dove and mercury) we will make all the special orders for delivery on Tuesday. This way, all will be done for the "early" orders and drivers can get out of the shop by 9. All the rest that come in on Tuesday will be taken care of on a first come, first serve basis. We expect this year to be better than last year....even with the bad economy.
We connect with some local restaurants that offer Vday dinners and offer roses with meals as part of the package.
For years now, I have a group of shops from other communities, we get together, pull our rose order. We then send it to all our wholesalers and see who will give us the best price. We've done this now for over 15 years. When ordering over 6000 roses, they'll fight to give you a good price. It's the only way we are able go keep our prices low enough for our local markets.
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Asked: Jan 11
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Last updated: Jan 31
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