Reading the Journal’s recent series of profile articles on the fresh flower sector one could not help but be impressed by the bullish statements from the trade suppliers (was it not ever thus?) and the constant refrain of growth, growth and growth.
Clearly the market growth of recent years has been massive and is testament to market innovators like the Flower Council of Holland, the leading buyers in the supermarkets, and, of course, the response from the dear old consumer. But that is today, perhaps even yesterday, but what will it be tomorrow?
What will the flower market look like? Who will the trade be? Will the supermarkets become as powerful as they have become in fruit and veg? Are the big boys missing out through not specialising the offer? Will the consumer still want to buy flowers? And what will motivate purchase decisions? Every day questions for sure, but pertinent ones when it comes to our future prosperity.
ALL CHANGE PLEASE
Currently, the supermarkets dominate volumes with the florists’ share being slowly beaten down like the walls of some beleaguered 15th century castle. But only a bold man would want to forecast the long-term effects of the recent (and future) changes of supermarket ownership. What you can be sure of is that price is becoming more significant in the hunt for growth, and that there is a growing risk of retail homogeneity.
What will happen with some of the comparatively smaller multiple players - mergers, takeovers, stagnancy? For that matter, what will happen in the convenience sector, another undeveloped area for flower growth? Opportunities abound for some suppliers, but it is no co-incidence that the supply base world-wide is consolidating in parallel to their clients - a process that is hardly likely to go backwards.
The issue for flowers in multiples is the relationship between a category that demands some simple but specific care regimes, and whose demanding nature is only exceeded by some customers, and its potential growth and margin contribution. If they can get the stock, range, care and handling, price, presentation, fixture maintenance and packaging right then sales will continue to grow significantly. But it is a big ‘if’. At the moment, most get a lot of it right, but none gets all of it right, and it is unlikely that without significant investment this will change. Elements may change but will the totality?
MIND YOUR BACKS
There is change on the specialist florist side as well. The recent investment by 3i in Interflora will drive a change in direction, and it may well be that in the future, flowers will be part, not the entirety, of their offer catalogue. What will that mean for the other flower relay services? Will it encourage other net-based retailers to start selling flowers? And what about the regular florist, how many of them will be there tomorrow?
The knock-on effect will be that the number of specialist florists will decline, with the successful ones surviving and growing because they have found retail solace, and profit, in niche positioning, if not niche markets. The volume sellers and the specialists, the garages and the convenience stores, will learn to live better with each other as they become more sophisticated in their targeting and marketing.
Realistically, the multiples are likely to reach a threshold and they may have to put greater focus on the consumer and the role that flowers play in his or her life. The florist meanwhile will explore additional revenue streams that are beyond the manageable scope of the multiples, at the same time really promoting ‘added value’ and that ‘personal touch’.
Crucially, because of the highly personal nature of the product, there will always be a need for the independent specialist - not for nothing is the Dutch word for florist ‘detaillist’ - so the future looks much better for the dedicated florist than it did for the fruit and veg man of 20 years ago.
And what about the ether? It is bandied about that £1 in every £8 is spent at Tesco, but the latest Verdict research says that £1 in every £7 is spent on the web. How much of this goes on flowers now? And will go on flowers in the future? What kind of flowers, for what purpose? And where does that leave our retail giants?
MAKING A STATEMENT
Some of the answers lie in appreciating the changing role that flowers have for the consumer. Arguably, this is something that the major players make generalised assumptions about. This is somewhat surprising given the detail that goes into the development of, for example, ‘destination foods’ for specific lifestyle groups - remember Vesta curries of 30 years ago? They were all you could buy then, yet today there are aisles full of spices and flavours from countries you have hardly heard of.
Shopping today is about lifestyle and self-image, and yet how much ‘lifestyle’ do we see in the way that flowers are combined, arranged and displayed in supermarkets? We certainly service the consumer of today but what of tomorrow - surely she is not changing too fast for us to anticipate her needs?
Buying flowers is now about expression in one form or another. Today’s consumer has high expectations. She expects to be able to have most of what she wants. Certainly, price gets in the way, but a lot of her shopping is about (self) expression. In fashion, if it so beautiful, so fantastic, she has to have it regardless - the latest mascara perhaps, or Jimmy Choo shoes for the latter-day Imelda Marcos.
Closer to home, premium priced tomatoes on the vine are more expensive but are another form of self- expression. Pre-pack salads are ‘badged’ with evocative names reminiscent of holidays and health, potatoes are far more diverse than just ‘King Edwards’. So why not for flowers? The motivation is similar - something that is affordable and makes a statement.
Since 9/11, attitudes have changed, personal motivations are different, the world ain’t what it used to be, but how much has the flower offer changed?
For more people than ever before, life is definitely not a rehearsal. The more we are aware of how precious life is, the more we will enjoy it as much as we can. We seek our individual version of ‘quality of life’ and we have greater irreverence than in the past. Even though we are perhaps more direct, we warm towards the informal, the flippant rather than the deadly serious. After all, who would have imagined the UK having a bank called ‘Egg’, a credit card called ‘Goldfish’ or even a car called ‘Ka’? What these share are the values of individuality and expression.
FLOWERS - SELF-EXPRESSION
What customers demand today is the personal freedom to enjoy themselves in more of a spontaneous (and less of a rational) way. The ‘now’ experience is important. Customers are not prepared to wait, nor to be limited by outdated conventions. Attitudes are about ‘today’.
And so customers’ ‘take’ on flowers is changing - they are not luxuries, not exclusive gifts, not mere decorative items, no longer a purely rational purchase. No, flowers are about spontaneous pleasure, about self expression, about individuality, about me and mine, now, today.
If that is so, then in the future the trade will need to re-evaluate what turns the customer’s key. To re-assess whether they really project the messages that customers are most likely to respond to, apart from prices, that is. Is the price:value ratio going to be the loyalty generator of the future?
Flower buyers will respond to communication that talks their language, not just to information, yet currently most point of sale material is information driven. They will respond to bouquets that match their need for self-expression. If we don’t want customers to become inured to the flower offer, then we will need to make it even more relevant to their life expectations.
And that will mean more targeting to lifestyle types, communicating in a ‘light’ and user friendly way and creating an empathy with the customer to satisfy that need for self-expression. Achieve this and we can remain bullish and proudly extend our record of growth, growth and growth.
No comments yet