With Valentine’s Day here and gone, it’s time to look ahead to the next big floral occasion, Mother’s Day. In order to get your cash register ringing, you are going to have to take a good look at your customer base and previous year’s sales so that you have the best possible product line-up.
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Develop a plan in mind for Mother’s
Day – who do you want to attract
to the shop and how can you go
about it? |
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When customers come into your shop hoping to buy for mom, it’s important that you have just what they’re looking for. Expect that for the most part, dad and the children will be shopping for a mom that’s 30 years and older. Statistics Canada reports that women are waiting longer to have children – the average age of mothers is 29.6 years old. Approximately 49 per cent of moms fall into the 30 years and older group.
So who’s buying for mom? The National Retail Federation in the U.S. reports that men are more likely to buy flowers (73.2 per cent compared to 60.8 per cent of women) and will spend more than women. In 2009, men spent an average of $27.21 on flowers whereas women shelled out $22.96. The NRF also found that 68 per cent of shoppers bought mom flowers, at a total cost of $1.9 billion. Breaking down the floral category, the Society of American Florists reports that 63 per cent of Mother’s Day shoppers are buying fresh cut flowers, 35 per cent purchase outdoor bedding and garden plants, 22 per cent pick up flowering houseplants and 12 per cent buy green houseplants.
To determine the ideal product mix for your shop, look around in your community and talk to customers who come in your shop, especially if they have a stroller in tow. Ask them what flowers or giftware they’d like to receive on May 9. Develop a plan in mind for Mother’s Day – who do you want to attract to the shop and how can you go about it? Start with your mission, create a strategy to get there and then iron out the fine details. Here’s one example of a mission:
Mission: To increase my under 30 years old customer base this Mother’s Day
Strategy: Promote and advertise where there is a younger crowd.
Plan: Advertise on a radio station where the audience is an under 30 crowd. Come up with a catchy slogan for all Mother’s Day advertising that will stand out with such an audience.
This year’s Mother’s Day orders could be a bit weaker with an Easter so close in date. Utilizing previous history, your customer trend instinct and your financial adjustments based of Valentine’s and Easter’s successes, you should be ready to come up with a perfect plan for you. Here are additional steps you can take to make sure your Mother’s Day is a success this year:
1) Talk to your wholesaler. Find out what flowers will be flushing at that time of year. This changes based on weather and demand. Granted, Mother’s day is a big demand time, but perhaps the mini carnation crop is expected to mature quicker than expected, providing you the opportunity to receive great value and enhance your bottom line. Some of this is could be last minute specials. Be sure to leave room in your budget and design plans for such opportunities. Make an appointment and tell them what you are looking for so they can be ready with concrete answers.
2) Decide on the number of designs in specific containers. This is extremely important! It will provide a floral purchase plan, and a staff hourly plan. Make recipe cards, set aside containers and tabulate flowers required for those designs. This is the time to write your promotional descriptions for your phone and walk-in customers.
3) Have a meeting with all your staff. Ask for ideas to make things more efficient and profitable. Have lists ready, making employees responsible for completing tasks within a specific time line. Doing this ahead of time allows all your staff to be focused on new innovative ideas that could really make your shop stand out. In the past, I have made a meal to serve my staff and their families leading up to the holiday. I mention I am serving all of them today because I need them to serve me that week. We expect staff to put their life on hold that week for our business. This needs to be acknowledged. I have also done small monetary ‘thank you’s’ after the occasion to those that really came through for me.
4) Customers don’t come to you. Think in all dimensions: TV, radio, print, window display, storefront and potential sponsorships. Consider the local seniors’ home, hospital, legion, school, religious establishment and spa as opportunities for you to showcase your shop. Many of these promotions can be written off in your business plan.
5) Think diversification. Your biggest competitor at Mother’s Day is the outdoor hanging basket or outdoor planter. If you are a shop that already carries outdoor product, this is not new for you. If not, consider this an extra opportunity for you. The profit margins are usually much smaller but if you embellish in your own creative way, you could gain a new customer base as well as extra profit.
Click here for a PDF of Bernice's Mother's_Day_Planning_Calendar.
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