Mother’s Day 2019 proved to be another strong holiday for the floral industry, with 62 percent of retailer respondents to a Society of American Florists post-holiday survey saying sales were higher than their 2018 returns. Among those who saw sales rise, 42 percent said the increase was between 1 percent and 10 percent; another 25 percent saw gains between 11 percent and 20 percent.
The survey results also highlighted a trend in last-minute ordering and showed an upward curve in average transactions.
This week, we’ll take a deep dive into the survey results and share some feedback from members of SAF’s Retailers Council. Look for additional holiday reporting, including results from a separate consumer survey commissioned by SAF, next week.
Holiday Buzz
The positive take reflected in the SAF survey is consistent with previous years; in both 2018 and 2017, about 60 percent of SAF retailer members reported increased holiday sales for Mother’s Day. It’s also consistent with pre-holiday expectations: Before Mother’s Day this year, about 56 percent of respondents said they were planning for a sales increase of up to 10 percent.
More good news from the survey: The average transaction this year was almost $76, compared to $68 in 2018.
“This was a great holiday,” wrote a retailer in New York. “[We saw] very strong walk-in sales. We prepared a lot of plants, planters and pre-made bouquets ahead of time so that we had something for everyone to choose from, even when we had to cut back on offering arrangements due to excessive order amounts.”
Another respondent, this time from Virginia, said the year’s holiday was strong, if a bit unusual in the build-up.
“I thought I was down, but in the end, I was up just a bit,” she said. “We had a big prom on the same weekend, which for us was the first time in over 22 years, but staff made it work with lots of planning and organizing.”
The SAF survey was emailed to the association’s retailer members on May 20 and has a response rate of 5.9 percent response rate.