In the two weeks to Valentine’s Day our Valentine’s Day card sales were 73% more than for the same two weeks in 2012. In the same period, overall sales traffic was up 5%. The sales growth for Valentine’s Day cards, off a good base, speaks to tactical placement, regular refreshing and the prize of a $300+ coffee machine to one lucky shopper.
Gerry Harvey can talk doom and gloom in retail for all he likes. This small business embraces its successes.
Our card sales were up only about 5% for the season, but our gift sales were up some 80%. Our fresh flower sales were about the same, but we sold out early afternoon – missing out on sales during our peak trading hours.
Took over 2 hours this morning wrapping 400 papers due to poor quality (absolute crap) plastic. Glue is on both sides which is a bloody nightmare. Another green roll that is rubbish. Unable to get blue rolls due to problems.
Russell Why are you still using green rolls I changed to clear rolls from Network years ago no glue no problems.
We are down the road from our ‘blue roll’ supplier who also repairs our wrap machine – so we like to support them as they support us at 3am.
Russell please stop putting your email address in the URL (web address field). The blogging soft will treat your comments as spam otherwise.
Great success 70%…Wow congratulations.
Sorry tio change the subject, but a question for Jarryd, I have thought about selling flowers but am not sure how to approach it….is this successful for you? Do you only do seasons or do you stock day-to-day?
Amanda the other thing I saw this season was Cactus plants in malls. Heart shaped. Good margin.
Amanda,
We only have them for Mothers’s day and Valentines Day. We used to stock a small range of flowers permanently, but stopped about 18-24 months ago. Sales declined and getting quality flowers for a competative price is just about impossible. Having said that, we did have some success with native bunches and arrangements (they are more expensive but last much longer). The problem was getting consistant supply.
We find pricing is not a factor for the two major flower seasons – so we charge for the convenience and make about 40% GP. To give an idea, we sold single red roses for $13 each.