Is this the end of florists?

Published: Wednesday 27 July 2022

Is this the end of florists?

Buckle up florists, it's about to get really interesting in our industry. Statistics released by IBISWorld revealed that the florist industry is actually in decline by 1.9% annually, witch doesn't sound like a lot but if you think about the bigger scheme of things, an industry in the decline is not a good industry to be in. 

The driving factor behind this decline in industry is that traditional flower shops like local florists are losing their foothold in the industry. This is because prominent market players like supermarkets and national online retailers are pushing traditional small flower shops entirely off the table. Instead of blaming these giants, why don’t we learn from them?

You only need to look at a brick and mortar florist shop nowadays to realise that flowers are not their main line of business anymore. Look around and you will find a few vases with flowers stuck in a corner and the rest of the florist shop taken up by gifts, candles, potted plants, dried materials, and even clothing. This begs the question: Are we still florists or is a new branding on the cards? Should we join the market force and become gift shops that also sell flowers?

Take a cue from big companies that pretend to have a presence in small towns or local areas by using SEO to fool clients into thinking they are local florists. Unsuspecting clients type in “florist local” or “local flowers” and up pop these big companies as an online “local” option. Cleverly they brand themselves as gift companies that include flowers.

Their prices are great, the flowers look amazing in the pictures and people read all the thousands of wonderful reviews. Once you choose your flowers, you get a list of add-ons like a vase, chocolates, wine, bears, balloons, teacups, beauty products, creams, lotions and potions. The list of gifts are endless.

Clients go ahead and in good faith place their orders expecting everything to be perfect as they trust their ‘local florist’.

Many a nightmare comes from this scenario. Flowers being delivered are definitely not what they have seen in the pictures, as the quality of the flowers is really not up to spec either. In these big companies ‘florists’ are forced to use older stock first before they can actually use fresh flowers. This means your flowers will always contain some of the oldest flowers in their cool room.

Let us local flower businesses beat these companies at their own game by delivering the best flowers possible AND selling gifts to enhance the flowers.