Make Saturday Valentine a Weekend affair!
Two and a half weeks from now and florists all over the country will witness that amazing annual phenomenon of the natural world… the descent of the British male.
This species can be recognised by its shuffling, uncertain habit of hovering by a florist shop window. Braver ones will edge in through the door and study the red roses with an awkward bewilderment, taking care not to touch or get too close … often looking like a rabbit in headlights
Joking aside, for all its stresses and hair-tugging moments, February 14 brings florists an annual gift-wrapped opportunity – to market themselves directly to those men who might only ever visit their shop on this one occasion in the year, but who are potential buyers for International Women’s Day, Mother’s Day and beyond!
Add in the fact that falling on a Saturday means you can make it a whole weekend affair and we reckon there is everything to go for.
So, let’s start with the chaps.
Make the first approach
Florist shops are still alien places, a kind of frightening magical kingdom to many men, so making a friendly first approach can only help things along.
Target males by doing a leaflet drop to the local football club, social club or amateur teams. If there are any local employers with a predominantly male workforce, or colleges that run man-type courses, leave some leaflets there too. You could even try to tie-in with your local professional sports team for an on-pitch giveaway that will raise your profile in front of a captive audience.
But be sure to make the information short, sharp, helpful, and relevant to them. Be light-hearted, offer ready-made bouquets with names that won’t make them squirm, but which will keep them in their wife or girlfriend’s good books.
Use your customer database to send an email alert to male customers and corporate clients too. Consider offering free chocolates with Valentine flowers, or a special discount voucher to be used against their Mother’s Day flowers.
Be really kind to them.
Many men still get nervous around overtly pretty, fussy product displays, so keep things tight, clean and streamlined when it comes to your Valentine offering. Put together a little capsule collection of designs, all clearly priced and ready for your male customers to pick up and take away.
If they’re unfamiliar with flower shops, men hate having to stand around and wait and if you’ve nothing ready to go, then you risk losing them altogether.
For the man who wants to break with red rose tradition but isn’t confident enough to ask for alternative flowers, make it easy by labelling things to say what they are, where they come from – and any hidden romantic message they might carry.
And never grin like a Cheshire cat when they tell you the message they want. “You’re my hunny bunny snugglebums” means a lot to them and the recipient!!
And finally, don’t ever forget to get their email and permission to add them to your newsletter database … data capture for future sales is as important as the on the day sale.
Watch the pricing
The current economic situation means that whilst some areas of the country can easily afford the typical £65-75 cost of a short-stemmed luxury red rose dozen bouquet with many willingly splashing £150+ for a Bally Big Bouquet, for others money is tight.
If you are absolutely sure your local market is struggling, then be creative in coming up with stylish but good-value alternatives to expensive red roses.
Back in 2011 when we were in the grips of an economic downturn and it was another Saturday Valentine’s, Back then Helen Jamieson from Whickham near Newcastle said: “Alternatives our customers seem to like are red and purple tulips, classic white lilies, or little posies of seasonal spring bulb flowers, all of which we can offer at an affordable price of around £30.”
OK in 2026 it will be more like £40 depending on your buying, but the same principles apply. Play with different flower mixes but make sure you show choices. That said there may still be a big buyer out there so don’t limit your chances. Alongside the cheaper options show a picture of a huge £150 bouquet (you can make one when you get a delivery in and then dismantle!!) and you may very well sell it.
What is a complete no-no though is trading down to inferior roses to either keep prices low or improve your profit – that way you get into the no-win situation of trying to compete with the supermarkets.
Instead, choose varieties that clearly fit the chosen price point and show the difference by putting the bouquets side by side. You never have to apologise for your pricing but it’s clever to show why they are more expensive.
Oh, and make sure buyers realise they can include one in a mixed bouquet or modern design piece or can have more than 12 – remember people have lucky numbers and dates and it may not be 1, 6 0r 12!
Local business links
In tougher times, there’s strength in numbers, so don’t neglect to make the most of business contacts in your area.
Networking with other luxury/service businesses such as hairdressers, hotels, gyms, spas, beauty parlours, chocolatiers or interiors shops can pay dividends and by collaborating on marketing everyone benefits.
At the very least, display each other’s products or leaflets, but think about offering combined “Valentine packages” – flowers, chocolates and a spa or manicure treatment, dinner and flowers etc and even if it doesn't work for the 14th you've laid the ground for Mother's Day or International Womens Day!
Other things to think about
Fortunately, these days men are not so squeamish about carrying flowers – can you believe there was a time when florists had to put bouquets in black sacks! – but do make sure you have super cool branding so those strong, masculine, silent homo sapiens can turn into advertising hoardings around town for you!
Get in there early by using an incentive to get those early orders. It could be a percentage discount, free box of chocs or free delivery if they have them delivered on Friday 13th – making it a Valentine’s Weekend is a canny way to spread out deliveries and leaves you free on the Saturday to serve in store customers – it will be manic if our research (see below) is anything to go by.
Choose your roses carefully … we love Freedom, but it is now the choice of most supermarkets so a bit ‘commonplace these days. As a bespoke florist you need to be in the top end territory – in our 'Which Rose Are You' feature Good Florist Guide member Jake Nicholson-Lailey tested out five different roses and reckons Explorer is the one … fabulous head size, long strong stems and no thorns!!!
Show the difference. Have vases of different roses side by side … e.g. a bunch of supermarket style 40cm sweethearts next to a vase of your luxury offering and maybe a middle price point in the middle. It’s not to insult the smaller rose but because customers often don’t realise the difference and if you are clever with your buying and margins, given most will go for the middle price point you could make more money.
Many restaurants, theatres, sports clubs, etc, will be setting up special ‘Valentine’s Nights’. If you haven’t already done it, see how you could work together – i.e. offer prizes, have leaflets on display (along with your products) or offer discounts to attendees.
Valentine’s … and Mother’s Day are perfect for monthly or bi-monthly Subscription sales. It could be a red rose bouquet every month or a seasonal selection but it’s a great upsell gift. Offer a cash incentive to your team for who can sell the most!
Saturday isn’t the kiss of death
We know traditionally Saturday Valentine’s is considered one of the worst but given the way the world has changed in the 11 years since the last one we can’t swear that will still apply. Admittedly the economy was brighter in 2015 but not only are the demographics of buyers changing but when it comes to Valentines and Mother’s Day, money is always available – often more so when life is a bit miserable!
We also know that a Saturday means a prime opportunity to use Friday to the max!
Because our 2015 survey showed that there were as many deliveries on Friday 13th as Saturday 14th, pickups and sales on the Friday afternoon were really strong, that the morning of the 14th was manic with in-shop trade but tailed off in the afternoon before a small spike at around 4.30pm with the Last Minute Larries (LML’s)
Which is why we would probably work on matching last year’s sales but with enough general stock you can use the following week as backup. As long as you keep pushing for early red rose order to guarantee availability you don’t need to hold stock just because someone didn’t their act together.
However, don’t just look at what you did last Feb 14th; consider what and where your business is 12 months down the line … i.e. have you grown customer numbers, did you have a better Christmas year on year, have you developed a better marketing strategy? Only decide your order numbers when you’ve considered everything.
Set the ground rules
This week is the last chance to work out your limits and how many bouquets, red roses and styles you are going to offer. Don’t get carried away and offer too many – keep it slick and simple like three mixed bouquets (small, medium, large), two red rose bouquets (classic and luxury), one hatbox and maybe a basket arrangement (great way to use the broken bits and pieces).
We do like the heart design in the Interflora collection, and we’re suckers for quirky designs like the Chrysanth teddy bear (not the foam rose ones!) but novelties are dependent on your customer base, so we’ll leave it at that.
But whatever you offer make sure they are recipe planned to the last stem so that when it gets crazy – probably not till the last four days – you don’t overstuff and lose valuable profit.
Don’t forget to feel the love!
Valentine’s is a fast paced, last-minute white-knuckle ride where you take all the risks of pre-ordering long before any of your customers mention the V word!
It can be a complete roller coaster and oh boy is all that rose conditioning tough but it’s also one of the best days because you are part of a love story every time you touch the flowers. To us that makes it all worthwhile and a rather wonderful thing to be able to do! Enjoy and don’t forget your own love bunch … you’ll deserve it!
