Whenever the seasons change, it's a good idea to mix up your offering. But what happens if you've still got excess stock from previous seasons that you can no longer sell? Instead of throwing your excess stock away, many florists are now using redundant stock in inventive ways to help promote and drive users to their business. Here are some of their best ideas, as well as a few of our own...
Sending out gifts in the form of excess stock – whether it be a single stem, or a small bunch nicely wrapped, along with a thank-you note – to high-value customers is a nice way to show them that you appreciate them. What's more, it will cost you next to nothing.
Often we will get emails and SMS offering incentives in the form of discounts to high-value users. Whilst this is a staple within CRM marketing, consumers now receive hundreds of these emails from competing brands. By sending a bespoke, physical gift to a consumer, you immediately put yourself in the front of their minds with an interaction far more valuable than an email or text. By offering a small gift made from excess stock that costs very little, it's likely that the consumer will purchase more frequently from you throughout the year. Usually, the net profit from an extra purchase provides more value than the cost of a small gift, particularly if your stock will be disposed of anyway.
Consider these two types of consumers:
1. A high-value customer who purchases from your business, often through a personal assistant.
2. A young consumer who loves your brand, follows your social media channels and engages with content, but does not have the disposable income to spend with you very often.
It's often thought that the high-value customer is the most important. But transactions alone do not determine the value of a customer. By offering cheaper bouquets for £5-15, largely made from excess stock, the second type of customer – already highly engaged and contributing to your business across social media and word-of-mouth with their friends – might be more likely to continue purchasing with you longer-term into the future.
Add this range to a landing page on-site and send out an email to users who have not purchased for a period of time, or those who open emails but never purchase.
Dried flowers are another reasonable option many florists consider, either by adding them to seasonal bouquets when there isn't much foliage around, or by creating a new bouquet made up entirely of dried flowers. You can sell these on their own, or you can again use them to send out as gifts to valuable customers, perhaps on their birthdays.
If you anticipate a lot of people entering your store, you could try offering a free bouquet in return for them signing up to your marketing materials. There are different ways of doing this, either by offering a free bunch of flowers to users once they have purchased, or by simply offering a free bouquet to anyone who enters the store and agrees to sign up to your mailing list, regardless of whether they purchase or not. After all, the majority of people entering your store have already shown a vested interest in your business and brand so, if they receive marketing materials from you, you may be able to turn them into first-time buyers, or turn first-time buyers into repeat customers.
One thing florists are doing with excess stems that's proving popular: creating arrangements to decorate the outside of your shopfront, to increase visibility with those walking past. Floral arrangements in and around your shop add brand value, and can be a form of advertising; it's also more likely people will share pictures of your store across social media, which again will drive more customers to purchase from you.
Create bouquets out of excess stems and offer them to local businesses that have high footfall, such as restaurants, bars, cafes, barbers. Offering free bouquets to local businesses provides these businesses with free products to help brighten or refine their business aesthetic; in return, it is free advertising for your floristry. As well as attracting new customers, the act of giving away free bouquets to local businesses will make you a more integral part of your community.