I’m usually Mr. Optimistic when it comes to the floral industry but quite honestly, I don’t know where the sales are going to come from for the next several months - other than birthdays, anniversaries, and unfortunately, funerals and sympathy.

However, a lot of that business has been taken by a company called Legacy - who has partnered with the Sympathy Store (which is owned by FTD). It works like this: most online obituaries also include a link that allows you to purchase flowers and other gifts with the click of a button.

It’s incredibly convenient for the person viewing the obituary but it comes at the expense of the local florist. Once the customer clicks on the link and chooses the flowers they wish to send, Legacy takes commissions out of the order and sends it on to a local florist to fulfill. The local florist has little choice but to fill the order, but by doing so, they’re losing out on a percentage of the sale. 

I hate to say it, but going forward, there’s going to be a retraction in our industry. Those who are looking ahead and are thinking about ways to better their business are going to survive and they’re going to have a different business model when this is all over.

On the other hand, those with a ‘woe-is-me’ attitude who are content with sitting back and letting other people do all the work are going to be in trouble because their days are numbered. So, it’s up to you to decide which type of business owner you choose to be. 

Our industry of florists needs to be proactive if we expect to survive and that means looking for new ways of operating. There are too many ‘middlemen’ and order gatherers out there making it easy to order flowers, but they’re also taking our profits because we’re letting them do the work we could be doing on our own. 

One of the ways we can start is by breaking into the Legacy business. We need to get that “send flowers” button on obituaries to go to the local florist and not national corporations. They’ve never had anyone challenge them and they’re all over the country. It won’t be an easy fight, but it can be done by starting with just one florist in every market in the country and getting the funeral orders back to the local florist where they belong.

We need to pull together and support those who are supporting the floral industry. Bloomerang Solutions can help you do that and more. Give us a call today at (941) 806-1911 or drop us a note below. We can start today!