Industry News


to social distancing and consumers’ desire to use flowers and plants to erase the physical distance between loved ones. Meanwhile, 23 percent cited less competition from other floral industry businesses as a positive sales factor, and about 18 percent said they faced less competition from non-floral vendors this year. Reasons for sales decreases. Among


those who saw sales decrease, nearly 70 blamed COVID-19 related restrictions on their business as helping to diminish their returns, and 48 percent pointed to reduced demand because of social dis- tancing (e.g., crowd size restrictions and cancellation of religious services). Promotion efforts. The survey found


that about 42 percent of respondents promoted the holidays at about the same level as last year; 26 percent decreased those efforts. Product selection and pricing. On


average, 68 percent of sales were cut flowers, 20 percent were flowering or green houseplants, and 5 percent were outdoor bedding plants. That breakdown is similar to 2019 returns. Retailers reported their average transaction amount to be $36.50. In 2019, it was $64.


“We have never run so efficiently,” wrote a florist in the Northeast. “All of our efforts were toward building resources to keep operations funded to pay for rent, suppliers, utilities and health care.”


■


65 percent blamed reduced demand on social distancing measures (including closed offices and remote working);


■


64 percent pointed to restrictions related to COVID-19 at their own business (including confusion over state and municipal rules and regulations);


■ ■


19 percent faulted shaky regional economies;


18 percent noted that reduced staff levels at their business contributed to the losses.


“We reside in a technological park


and most employees were working from home,” noted a Colorado retailer. “Therefore, the multiple arrange- ment [orders] to businesses were reduced. Also, other florists may have been selected based on the admin’s home address.”


“We had the strongest [APW] in a long time,” wrote a retailer in Arizona. “I feel that people felt strongly about acknowledging their workers during this pandemic.”


APW: Employers and Workers Look for Ways to Connect Overall, about 75 percent of the retail- ers responding to the SAF survey said they were open this year for APW (April 20-24, 2020). On average, respondents had about 44 percent of their workforce available during the week. Among those retailers who saw sales


drop, the decrease was often significant: 64 percent of those respondents said sales dropped this year by 21 percent or more. The same respondents indicated the ripple effects of the crisis affected sales:


The loss of office buzz about


the holiday also affected a retailer in Wisconsin, who wrote, “Most people are working from home. At work, you would have seen other people receive things and remember to order. [This year, there were] no admins to remind the boss to send something. Also, [the] economy is in flux.” A California retailer classified


APW as “a very slow period this week due to the pandemic… The commu- nity was so unsettled by the events. Everything was at a standstill.”


In South Carolina, a retailer noted,


“This was the first week that we opened back up and were not running an email campaigns the week before to encourage sales. I definitely think that staff working from home and a general slowed economy impacted companies sending [flowers] to their employees.” The average transaction for the


holiday this year was $57. APW has been an inconsistent


holiday in the floral industry dating back to its holiday name-change around 2000 when groups like the International Association of Administrative Professionals moved away from promoting Secretary’s Day and Week last year. About 37 percent of retailers responding to an SAF spring holiday survey said APW sales dropped from 2018 and another 31 percent said they stayed the same. (Results were similar when SAF surveyed members in 2018.) Still, despite those trend lines


— and the tremendous challenges posed by the crisis this year — some respondents to this year’s survey did note positive results. “We had the strongest [APW] in a


long time,” wrote a retailer in Arizona. “I feel that people felt strongly about acknowledging their workers during this pandemic.”


Mary Westbrook is the editor in chief of Floral Management. mwestbrook@safnow.org


GO DEEPER Find out more about these surveys and get additional insight on other holiday trends at safnow.org/holidays.


The magazine of the Society of American Florists (SAF)


37


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52