The Florists industry has been withering away since 2005. Poor economic conditions, including weak consumer confidence and low disposable income, have deterred households from making discretionary purchases on flowers and plants.

Supermarkets and e-commerce websites have only made things worse, taking customers away from the industry by offering discounted prices for comparable goods. As a result, industry revenue has fallen at an average annual rate of 3.6% to $6.6 billion over the five-year period.

Within the industry, online floral wire services have gained increasing popularity. These services, which take orders online and use local florists to fulfill demand, have allowed industry operators to expand their customer base from their local city or region to the entire nation. An increasing number of florists, therefore, have relied on such network services to augment their order volumes and to offset some of the business lost to external competitors. While these networks have provided some relief for industry operators, these services have also hampered margins as florists were left to bear the warehousing and distribution costs for all orders.

So the questions remains, are these wire-services helping or hurting the industry? Does the Industry need a platform to create a florist market where they can sell their own product at their own prices without paying such extreme commisions?

Source – IBIS World Industry Report