How Online Florists Prepared for a Busy Valentine’s Day

Online florists projected sales wouldn’t wilt during their first (and only 🤞) pandemic Valentine’s Day weekend.

By the numbers...The forefather of digital florals, 1-800-Flowers, expects to sell 22 million stems overall and 14 million roses this year, up from 18 million stems and 11 million roses in 2020. Newer DTC players aren’t far behind.

• Popup Florist founder Kelsie Hayes said her brand exceeded last year’s sales by Feb. 3.
• Farmgirl Flowers founder Christina Stembel told us she’s expecting 400% sales growth YoY for the holiday.
• The Bouqs Co. CEO Alejandro Bethlen said his biz will ship more than 300,000 bouquets, equivalent to 10 million stems.

But on the delivery route...“The biggest issue we're having is transportation,” Farmgirl’s Stembel told us, “and we have four times more packages not delivered on time now than we did pre-pandemic.”

No one wants dead flowers on their doorstep, but shipping routes are still clogged. So Stembel said she’s adjusted by opening new distribution centers and signing additional shipping partners. 1-800-Flowers CEO Chris McCann said the retailer has 40 years of shopper and supply chain data to mine for guidance.

Disruptions deep in the agricultural supply chain also led some florists to lean on supplementary inventory—or new SKUs entirely.

• Fresh picks: Farmgirl Flowers has 80+ arrangements, as opposed to its usual 24. With plantings disrupted, they’ve got more breadth but lesser depth to work with.
• Extra offshoots: Add-on gifting options small (handmade cards with pressed flowers at Popup) and large (1-800’s suite of food and plant brands to cross-merchandise) could boost sales.