hands arranging flowers at Bouqs, a California flower retailer
Source: The Bouqs Co.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimated that consumers would spend $274.02 per person on 2023 Mother’s Day and 75 percent would give flowers as a gift. Predicting and delivering these perishable items is a massive challenge, one that Bouqs (pronounced BOO-Ks as in bouquets) began planning for a year in advance.

I recently spoke with Bouqs CEO Kim Tobman about how the company, named best flower delivery service by Wirecutter, prepared for the challenge.

Bouqs started planning for Mother’s Day 2023 with a debrief on its 2022 performance.

“We looked back at the numbers on what sold the most, but also for us what sold out fastest. We make sure that we capture all of that data so we can plan forward,” said Ms. Tobman.

Insights and analysis informed Bouqs merchandise strategy. It reserved inventory and shipping capacity for Mother’s Day six months in advance.

“On the floral side, we have to place our bets to get as much of the things that we know have worked well and try some new things as we see floral trends in the future,” Ms. Tolman said.

Bouqs has long-term farming and shipping partners and is careful not to be overly reliant on a single provider, to manage risk and disruptions.

Staple products like lilies, tulips and roses – in spring pallets – as well as in new bundles that combine floral arrangements with vases, candles, and chocolates sold well this year.

Marketing campaigns started four weeks out, intensified after two weeks, and changed continually.

“Certain things sold out pretty quickly, and we had to take them off shopping for Google or off of our campaigns on social. That is something that we’re optimizing pretty much daily,” she said.

Weekend-of and day-of marketing promoted online subscriptions as a gift for mom with messages like “Don’t ever forget again.” Ms. Tobman said, “Subscription sign-ups always go up during this time.”

Bouqs had three retail locations, where customers pre-ordered arrangements for delivery or store pickup. It supported stores through creative peak hiring of local floral designers and short-term refrigeration equipment rentals.

All sales require advance forecasting and coordination combined with real-time adjustments. Special attention to planning and optimization is crucial for a date-specific holiday, perishable products and a finite inventory.

BrainTrust

“Every smart retailer keeps their ‘Beat Yesterday’ book/data close. It’s the roadmap they use to guide them to higher sales next year.”

Georganne Bender

Principal, KIZER & BENDER Speaking


“Any smart retailer tracks product performance during a seasonal holiday run for next year. Planning and committing for the next year with their vendors is critical.”

Rich Kizer

Principal, KIZER & BENDER Speaking


Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: How important is it for retailers to understand past holiday performance when planning how to approach the next one? What can Bouqs’ Mother’s Day experience teach other retailers about holiday merchandising, marketing, and supply chain ops?

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How important is it for retailers to understand past holiday performance when planning how to approach the next one?

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11 responses to “Do Retailers Need to Get Ready Now For Mother’s Day 2024?”

  1. Jeff Sward Avatar
    Jeff Sward

    The post mortem process on any event is critical to understanding how to execute future events. Best sellers and worst sellers, by region. Localizing the data as much as possible. And the time to do it is while it is all still fresh, when not just the data is fresh but also all the anecdotal information can be gathered and digested as accurately as possible.

  2. Rich Kizer Avatar
    Rich Kizer

    Really I think it is a simple performance. Any smart retailer tracks product performance during a seasonal holiday run for next year. Planning and committing for the next year with their vendors is critical. That is just good retail. After each holiday period, every good retailer will and must review wins and mistakes.

  3. Mark Self Avatar
    Mark Self

    Why not take orders now for consumers who have a hard time remembering “Mom” (shame on all of you! 🙂 )…makes next years Mother’s day less stressful!!

    1. Gary Sankary Avatar
      Gary Sankary

      Apparently, it’s “wrong” to buy a couple of years’ worth of Mother’s Day and Birthday gifts, wrap them, and keep them stored in the basement to make gifting easy.

      1. Georganne Bender Avatar
        Georganne Bender

        I’d never find them again!

  4. Georganne Bender Avatar
    Georganne Bender

    Every smart retailer keeps their “Beat Yesterday” book/data close. It’s the roadmap they use to guide them to higher sales next year.

  5. Perry Kramer Avatar
    Perry Kramer

    Yes, retailers need to start planning for next years spring, including Mothers Day, immediatly, Mothers day is a huge holiday that is also usually close to Easter making the Spring period the largest sales period for many specialty fashion retailers. every smart retailer does a Post mortem of the Holiday sales and use it to plan for next years.

  6. Gary Sankary Avatar
    Gary Sankary

    Event post-mortums are a critical part of the planning process. What worked, what didn’t get better for next time.

  7. Brad Halverson Avatar
    Brad Halverson

    Good retailers would have met this week to review what sold well, what didn’t, what could be merchandised or promoted better, and opportunities for 2024. There are always 2-3 valuable nuggets in the data, in pictures, or in anecdotes from store teams to make the customer experience better and increase sales for the next year.

  8. Patricia Vekich Waldron Avatar
    Patricia Vekich Waldron

    Planning and coordinating for a peak holiday is exercise in coordination, from assortment and capacity planning to marketing and inventory management. When something is done beautifully, to me that means there was a capable leader and a strong team dedicated to executing flawlessly.

  9. Ashish Chaturvedi Avatar
    Ashish Chaturvedi

    Retail is gradually becoming a tech business. Retailers must also ensure a scalable, elastic, demand-sensing ‘digital’ channel in place. It’s about offering a unified customer experience across digital and physical environments and building resilient, modern, sustainable supply chains.

11 Comments
oldest
newest
Jeff Sward
Jeff Sward
2 months ago

The post mortem process on any event is critical to understanding how to execute future events. Best sellers and worst sellers, by region. Localizing the data as much as possible. And the time to do it is while it is all still fresh, when not just the data is fresh but also all the anecdotal information can be gathered and digested as accurately as possible.

Rich Kizer
Rich Kizer
2 months ago

Really I think it is a simple performance. Any smart retailer tracks product performance during a seasonal holiday run for next year. Planning and committing for the next year with their vendors is critical. That is just good retail. After each holiday period, every good retailer will and must review wins and mistakes.

Mark Self
Mark Self
2 months ago

Why not take orders now for consumers who have a hard time remembering “Mom” (shame on all of you! 🙂 )…makes next years Mother’s day less stressful!!

Gary Sankary
Gary Sankary
  Mark Self
2 months ago

Apparently, it’s “wrong” to buy a couple of years’ worth of Mother’s Day and Birthday gifts, wrap them, and keep them stored in the basement to make gifting easy.

Georganne Bender
Georganne Bender
  Gary Sankary
2 months ago

I’d never find them again!

Georganne Bender
Georganne Bender
2 months ago

Every smart retailer keeps their “Beat Yesterday” book/data close. It’s the roadmap they use to guide them to higher sales next year.

Perry Kramer
Perry Kramer
2 months ago

Yes, retailers need to start planning for next years spring, including Mothers Day, immediatly, Mothers day is a huge holiday that is also usually close to Easter making the Spring period the largest sales period for many specialty fashion retailers. every smart retailer does a Post mortem of the Holiday sales and use it to plan for next years.

Gary Sankary
Gary Sankary
2 months ago

Event post-mortums are a critical part of the planning process. What worked, what didn’t get better for next time.

Brad Halverson
Brad Halverson
2 months ago

Good retailers would have met this week to review what sold well, what didn’t, what could be merchandised or promoted better, and opportunities for 2024. There are always 2-3 valuable nuggets in the data, in pictures, or in anecdotes from store teams to make the customer experience better and increase sales for the next year.

Patricia Vekich Waldron
Patricia Vekich Waldron
2 months ago

Planning and coordinating for a peak holiday is exercise in coordination, from assortment and capacity planning to marketing and inventory management. When something is done beautifully, to me that means there was a capable leader and a strong team dedicated to executing flawlessly.

Ashish Chaturvedi
Ashish Chaturvedi
2 months ago

Retail is gradually becoming a tech business. Retailers must also ensure a scalable, elastic, demand-sensing ‘digital’ channel in place. It’s about offering a unified customer experience across digital and physical environments and building resilient, modern, sustainable supply chains.