What does a florists do ?
A question we get regularly asked on the phone is - What do florists do on a daily basis?
Well the answer to this is so vast I decided to write a Blog here to give you an idea as to what you can do as a retail florist in the flower industry.
Retail Floristry
This is the place where for many years was the only job available to commercial florists, the High Street Retail Flower Shop was the place to go to for all your flowery needs, Weddings, Funerals, Bouquets, Plants, Events, Advice, training and so much more.
In the past 10 years we have see a huge shift in the flower industry with branches of florists specialising in specific areas and offering niche and elite designs in once specific design.
So what does the retail florists do ??
The retail florists are generally the pillar of many communities who look after a specific area for all their flowery needs. As a retail florists you will deal with many emotions in one specific day, an example of which are,
A joyous partner comes in as their partner has just has a baby and they wish to buy them flowers.
A Sibling or child just realises last minute is their parents Birthday and the wish to order a birthday bouquet.
A Partner stayed out too late at the weekend and are buying a bouquet to make it up to their loved one.
A family member is ill and flowers are bought to cheer them up.
Someone is on their way to a funeral and wants to bring flowers.
The phone rings and you have an order for delivery of a thank you bouquet.
A future copuple walk in to discuss their upcoming wedding flowers.
A local business is celebrating and wants flowers to display in their shop
This is only a small list of the reasons people buy flowers from a retail shop, and on top of that you will spend ours doing window displays, cleaning buckets, ordering flowers, consulting with wholesalers and suppliers and consulting with customers.
Working in or running a retail flower shop is one of the most rewarding careers if you enjoy dealing with the public. Although in the past 2/3 years more and more retail orders are coming in online through their booking system.
Retail florists are reporting that they do less and less weddings and events and more and more bouquet and arrangement gifting and deliveries. Retails florists have branched out to offerin baloon services as an add on to their arrangments, offering gifts and candles as an add on to their offereing. Flower shops have become the one stop shop for gifts and gift services.
The still do offer all the other flower services, but for some it is on a much smaller scale.
So what is the day in a life of a retail florist look like ?
Lets work our way through an average week in a retail flower shop.
Usually the first delivery of flowers that have been ordered will be in the shop in boxes / buckets when the florist opens their doors, these flowers need to be unpacked, treated, conditioned and displayed in fresh clean buckets of water.
Removing rubbish for composting and recycling.
A customer may be waiting for the shop to open to buy a funeral wreath on her way to a funeral.
Preparing designs and wreaths for cash and wrap customers.
Preparing orders for the day that may have come in online and arranging delivery or collection each day
Social media Marketing and content creation needs to be prepared for the week.
Taking Photos and Videos for using for social media
Preparing and organising port folios or galleries of photos for customers to choose from in store.
Caring and monitoring plants in store
Rotating stock to ensure the least amount of waste
Cleaning and sterilising buckets - a never ending task
Filling Buckets with fresh water - watch your back, these buckets are heavy
Sorting waste and composting - more economical and better for the environment if this is done correctly.
Planning rosters and staff days off or holidays - and for yourself also
Arranging window and outdoor displays - regular window changes keeps people looking in to see what you have displayed this week
Preparing sundries for busy periods - Christmas / Valentines/ Mothers Day - preparation is key for busy times
Consulting with potential customers and clients - weddings and events
Dealing with customers onsite who can display an array of emotions
Buying and ordering fresh flowers in advance
Visiting sundry wholesalers and or trade shows
Accounting and record keeping
Attending Business Networking events to drum up business and learn from like minded people
Attending community and local events to keep in with the locals
Training staff in different aspects of their business - flower shops usually prefer to employ staff who are already commercially trained and then adapt them to suit their business model. ( thinking of starting a career in flowers, click here )
Upskilling and learning new trends, new skills, new marketing, new website, new procedures - you are always learning
If the Retail Florist also does Weddings & Events this is just a few more things they partake in:
Consultations with Wedding Couples
Creating Mood Boards
Creating Proposals and more consultations backwards and forwards with couple
Site visits - If you have not displayed in the venue before a site visit is always advised - not you will need staff to man your shop whilst you do this or you do it on your day off
Planning the wedding flower order - this can take anything from 1 hour to 8 hours depending on the size of the wedding
Preparing the buckets and storage area for the flower delivery, you may not have room in your retails shop to store all the flowers
Preparing the flowers and foliage when it arrives - you may need extra space
Preparing the mechanics of your designs - this may be done well in advance if you have storage space
Preparing the designs for the wedding / event ( if you can or it may all have to be done onsite ) - this may start 3/4 days prior to the event - remember your regular retail flower shop is still operating at this time
Working onsite the day of the event decorating and preparing your designs
Breakdown of designs the day after or the night of the event
As you can see wedding & event floristry takes a lot of time and space and many retails florists prefer not to take on big events and focus on daily flower orders and deliveries.