What are the five favorite designs that drive holiday sales? How can you avoid butt-brush? Why should you purposely create tension during this most wonderful time of the year? And why go faux and have a point?
Proceed directly to these and other essential holiday floral in-store and online selling answers starting after this photo collage!
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Focus on faux
Floral customers often want to keep their holiday decorations from year to year.
Decorations that can be stored and reused are a better investment than disposable designs, especially when they coordinate, making it easy for a novice to decorate.
This makes the holiday season a good time to focus on selling faux botanicals—silk and permanent flower designs.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
To keep faux arrangements intact as long as possible, use hot melt glue or a glue gun and glue sticks to secure the dry foam and stems.
Tell a story
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Buying is an emotional act. Everything your customer sees in your floral business should tell a story: a wreath for the door and matching mantlepiece are perfect companions for this copper-brushed Santa.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
These visual stories can introduce trends and themes to your customers, connects with the customer emotionally and teaches them how to use the products—which helps increase holiday sales.
Appeal to the five senses
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Attention to detail can set you apart from your competition. Factor in ways to appeal to the five senses as you build your vignettes. Color. Texture. Fragrance. Don’t forget to add a sprinkle of sparkle for a festive touch.
Impulse buying is almost always a result of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling or tasting items in the store while the consumer is in shopping mode.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
It’s important to add a level of comfort by creating design collections that appeal to the customers in your area rather than simply following market trends.
Create small vignettes that offer ideas on how to use the new products along with items they already have at home. Cross-market products that can be used together.
Serve up the five favorite holiday designs
Customers coming into a flower shop during the holiday season are typically looking for one of five favorite designs.
What are they? A wreath for the front door, a centerpiece for the dining table, a decoration for the mantle, something for the kitchen and or an accessory for an accent area such as a sofa or foyer table.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
One way to turn these holiday shoppers into satisfied customers is to create companion pieces of all five design styles for each vignette, theme or color collection in your displays.
The consumer can see the type of design they’re shopping for alongside matching arrangements that complete their décor, creating impulse buys.
Silent Salespeople
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Adapt your display area to your store size or space.
A prop, fabric, or product can be the catalyst for developing a theme. A strategic mix of similar items, old and new, blend to complete the visual story and create profitable sales.
Many floral shops use old doors or wooden partitions covered in fabric or other materials to serve as the backdrop. Placing backdrops on sturdy bases and adding wheels allows for the displays to be moved as the area is reconfigured.
These “silent salespeople” can drive sales for the products displayed.
In these sections, offer a mix of finished designs and DIY products that the customer can use in their own additional designs.
Get right—and then left
The majority of customers are right-handed, so people tend to turn right as they enter a store. Place your most interesting display in this space with items at eye and hand level, moving left to right vertically.
These latest and greatest products give your displays a fresh look, inspire impulse buys and can usually garner higher price points because they are viewed as something different by your high-end shoppers.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Place your most up-and-coming items to the right of this display space. Then turn to your left to build the next display for counterbalance.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Create a ‘grab and go’ tabletop for impulse items along the main walk area close to the cash register. Place inexpensive eye-catching items at the sales counter.
Create tension with contrasts
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Use the tension created by contrasting colors, textures, materials and styles to energetically boost your sales now and year-round. Glossy and matte. Rough and smooth. Hard and soft. Traditional and modern.
Gold floral mesh adds a new dimension to update an otherwise traditional wreath.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Texture is the luxury of floral design. Color is the most eye-catching element. Fragrance is the sense that triggers memory. The magic is in the mix.
Avoid butt-brush
Consumers are simultaneously attracted to and repelled by too many choices. The average person has difficulty making decisions and can quickly become frustrated with too many choices.
According to retail consultant Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, avoid butt-brush. He suggests that people don’t like contact from behind and will skip areas where they might bump into the merchandise.
Mix it up
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Mix new products and bargains together. Lower prices item balance higher price merchandise, justifying the added purchase. Place samples or demos in the area whenever possible.
Place less expensive impulse items where shoppers wait to make purchases. Grab the attention of the shopper who already has their wallet out and is ready to buy.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Displays hung over the register, above shelving units or on blank wall space can be designed to showcase product but priced to sell just in case a shopper is looking for an oversized design.
While you might hesitate to make large designs due to cost, shops that take this risk often find the large items will sell. And the higher cost of large designs helps make lesser priced items seem more affordable.
Make it easy to buy
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Savvy shoppers look in physical stores for the same ease of purchase and diversity of product they experience online.
If you don’t have a physical location, you can create sales buzz by building displays and sending photographs out by email and social media.
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Enlist the help of your online friends. To promote holiday designs such as wreaths, garlands or centerpieces via social media, ask your customers to post photos of their designs and tag you. Offer a free flower or emailed discount coupon as a reward once you receive the tag.
What’s your point?
Photo: North American Floral Wholesale
Your focal point, that is. Without one the display can be confusing, overwhelming or even just plain boring.
Select the message you want to communicate and back it up with a concentrated use of a primary product supported by complimentary items. Be sure the focal point is at eye level so customers don’t miss it.
Your front window is your billboard. It communicates who you are to people passing by. Display new, large and colorful displays of your most important merchandise or theme to pull in new customers.
When they arrive, have your design collections of the five favorite forms ready and priced to sell!
I love a beautiful wreath. What is your favorite holiday design?
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