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Survey Says...
Canadian Florist’s 2010 National Survey results are in |
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Written by Amanda Ryder
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The floral shop
Just over half of our survey respondents (53 per cent) are based in Ontario, with 11 per cent reporting from Alberta, 10 per cent from British Columbia, seven per cent in Quebec, and the remaining provinces rounding out the rest. In total we heard from almost 200 florists, a response rate of over 10 per cent to our e-blasts.
First off, we wanted to know where you do business. Some 41 per cent of shops were located in urban centres. At the other end of the spectrum, 22 per cent of florists could be found in a small town or rural setting, defined by a population below 10,000. Our remaining respondents set up shop in the suburbs (22 per cent) or in a town with a population that falls between 10,000 to 20,000 people (15 per cent).
The majority of respondents were located in either independent storefronts (53 per cent) or strip malls (21 per cent). Other options included studio locations, freelancers, home-based operations and grocery florists. Only five per cent of florists said their shop is located inside another retail outlet, while just two per cent were in the interior of a mall. Most shops fall in the 501- to 1,000-square-foot group (see chart 1).
The faces in the flower shop
As the primary decision-makers and lifeblood of the shop, we included a series of questions about the owners and staff. Seventy-seven per cent of our respondents described themselves as the owner. The other 23 per cent were made up of accredited floral designers (nine per cent), senior managers with financial responsibilities (five per cent), junior managers with a supervisor role (four per cent), employees (three per cent) and non-accredited floral designers (two per cent).
Our survey reports that baby boomers are at the helm of Canadian floral shops with the average age of florists falling between the age of 41 and 50 (32 per cent), just narrowly ahead of those aged 51 to 60 (30 per cent). Only 17 per cent of respondents were between the ages of 31 to 40, 12 per cent were over the age of 60 and the remaining nine per cent fell into the 21 to 30 age group category.
When it comes to the man-hours
required to run your flower shops, it’s no secret that the industry demands long hours. Thirty-four per cent of respondents reported working more than 50 hours a week and the same amount put in somewhere between 41 to 50 hours. Nine per cent work 31 to 40 hours each week, an equal amount log 21 to 30 hours, and 13 per cent work 20 hours of less. It also seems our readers prefer to take profit from the business rather than salary (see chart 2).
Helping to distribute some of this workload are the shop’s employees. Not including holiday fluctuations, the average florist (48 per cent) employs one full-time staff member, while 34 per cent take on two to three full-time employees. Almost half also employ two to three part timers. A very small percentage of mega-florists have more than 10 full timers and more than seven part timers (see chart 3).
Only 11 per cent of florists offer employee benefits to their full-time staff, two per cent offer it to both full- and part-time employees, and the majority (87 per cent) don’t offer any benefit packages.
When looking specifically at the design staff, 55 per cent of respondents have between two and four floral designers on staff, and 35 per cent employ just one. Six per cent of shops take on five or more designers, and on the opposite end of the scale, four per cent of shops operate without one.
Wages differ for each position and depend heavily on experience and seniority in the shop (see chart 4 on the following page). The manager is the highest paid position in the shop, making an average of $17.19 an hour, while the delivery driver brings home one of the smallest paycheques. Some shops also use volunteer delivery drivers who are paid either according to mileage or per delivery.
In terms of training, 85 per cent of survey respondents say they, or someone in their shop, have formal training. However, florists consider other factors when hiring a designer. Thirty-eight per cent of florists say they prefer prior experience over training, 34 per cent require both training and prior experience, 19 per cent do not hire floral designers, and only nine per cent say that formal training is enough.
One area where shop owners may be lacking is regular product and sales training, as 54 per cent say they don’t offer any training in these areas. For those that do focus on sales and product education, 35 per cent spend between one to five hours on this annually, 24 per cent devote six to 10 hours, and the same percentage spends 11 to 20 hours each year on this training. Only 11 per cent dedicate more than 20 hours a year.
What’s on your shelves?
The flower shop isn’t just the place to go for blooms – florists also carry a large inventory of hard goods, gifts, and accessories for the home. Next to fresh flowers, vases and containers were most popular product on offer to customers, followed by glassware, plush products, holiday items, greeting cards and permanent and dried botanicals, respectively.
Going forward to the next 12 months, the majority of florists selected handcrafted products as the primary category they’d like to sell in their store. The remaining top 10 additions to inventory for the coming year include wall art, fashion accessories, garden themed products, home décor and accessories, candles, jewelry, vases/containers, gourmet foods, glassware and tea and coffee accessories.
Making the sale
If the size and location of the florist shop varies greatly, the same rings true for sales and profits. Thirty per cent of florists recorded annual sales of between $100,000 and $250,000, 28 per cent fell below $100,000 and 22 per cent of florists enjoyed sales between $250,000 and $500,000. Less than 10 per cent are in the multi-million dollar range, as chart 5 shows.
Profits also varied widely, with the most common answer likely reflecting a year of recessionary struggles: 28 per cent chose the option “Profit? Are you kidding me?” On a more positive note, 22 per cent estimated their margin to be between one and four per cent of sales, 25 per cent reported a margin of five to 10 per cent of sales, 17 per cent selected 11 to 20 per cent, and a lucky eight per cent had margins of 20 per cent.
The average transaction in a florist shop rings up around $41 to $60, according to 49 per cent of survey takers. Twenty-two per cent reported this number to be between $21 and $40 and 15 per cent say their average customer shells out from $61 to $80 at the cash register.
Recession aside, 2009 was an improvement over 2008 for many florists. Twenty-two per cent say their sales increased between one and nine per cent over 2008 and for 15 per cent of florists, this increase ranged between 10 and 20 per cent. Not all of our respondents were as lucky, as 18 per cent saw sales fall 10 to 20 per cent, while 15 per cent put this decrease at one to nine per cent. For 14 per cent of florists, sales decreased by more than 20 per cent. Only 12 per cent say their sales remained the same in 2009.
For the current year, the majority of respondents (31 per cent) are optimistic and predict an increase of one to nine per cent in sales for 2010 over 2009, and 23 per cent anticipate an increase of 10 to 20 per cent.
Twenty-six per cent of florists expect that sales will echo 2009, and nine per cent predict a one- to nine- per cent drop.
Promoting your shop
According to our survey, phone sales (45 per cent) remain the primary way to order flowers. Walk-in traffic (34 per cent) was a close second, while wire service orders (11 per cent) and Internet orders (10 per cent) rounded out the final two options.
There are several methods that retailers can use to attract customers to their shop, and florists cited in-store events as the number one strategy used in 2009. In fact, 18 per cent of our respondents invited shoppers to their store for a special event. In-store events were also pinpointed as the most effective strategy to get new customers in the shop. On average, florists who organize such events at their shop host one to three events a year (57 per cent) and some even host four to 10 (seven per cent).
Other successful methods used to drive traffic to the shop, in order of effectiveness, include online advertising, newspaper advertising, coupons, social media presence, television/radio presence and out-of-store events.
The web world
As more consumers turn to the Internet to research products, locate businesses and make online purchases, having a website is crucial to running a flower shop. Forty-four per cent of our respondents have a website that is hosted by a wire service, while 45 per cent have their own site. Users can shop via an online store at 46 per cent of these websites, while the remaining 54 per cent do not host on-line stores. Twelve per cent of respondents don’t have a website.
Sending out an e-newsletter is a great opportunity to reach shoppers, but surprisingly, the majority – 74 per cent – don’t send one out. Nine per cent will blast out an e-newsletter when they find time, the same percentage do it once a month, four per cent on a quarterly basis, three per cent weekly, two per cent bi-monthly and one per cent send one out annually.
Like many other retailers, those in the floral industry are beginning to dabble in social media – 42 per cent have a Facebook page for their shop, 12 per cent are on Twitter and five per cent use YouTube. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents haven’t yet jumped on the social media bandwagon (see chart 7).
Challenges faced by the industry
Lastly, we looked at the challenges that florists faced in 2009 and those they anticipate in 2010. Not surprisingly, the general economy was the top concern in 2009, with 55 per cent citing it as a major threat.
In a close second, and related, was a decrease in consumer spending (46 per cent defined this as a major threat as well), followed by competition from supermarkets, big box stores, staffing issues and access to credit.
Looking ahead, florists were decidedly more optimistic. The general economy was still the primary issue, but only 34 per cent labelled it as a major threat. Decreased spending, competition, staffing issues and access to credit all ranked as threats as in 2009, but the majority of florists say these issues are manageable, or won’t really be a factor in the coming months.
Canadian Florist would like to thank all of the florists who took the time to fill out our survey. They’ve provided us with valuable information about the flower shops – and the people who work in them. Our survey was anonymous; however, respondents had the opportunity to enter their name to win a global positioning system. We’d like to congratulate David Barritt of Salmon Arm Florist in Salmon Arm, B.C., who was selected in a random draw as the winner of a TomTom GPS.
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